What Milestone does

Milestone (妙顺生物), founded in 2014 and headquartered in Shanghai's Zhangjiang district, is a privately held Chinese life-sciences tools and services company specializing in primary cell isolation, separation, and cryopreservation for the biopharmaceutical and cell-and-gene-therapy (CGT) industries. The company's core technology is its proprietary TPCS (The Primary Cell Solution) platform, which uses density gradient centrifugation and immunomagnetic separation to deliver standardized primary cells including PBMC, immune cell subsets (T cells, B cells, NK cells, monocytes), liver cells, and disease patient-derived cells, supported by a near 2,000 m2 R&D and production base in the Zhoushan Free Trade Zone. It has expanded the technology stack with the MileCell MagSep nanomagnetic bead cell sorting platform (2025), Kryogene DMSO-free cryopreservation solution, and Kryoplus serum-free media series, alongside animal primary cells, subcellular fractions (microsomes, S9, lysosomes), SLC transporter cell lines, and biological matrices.

Milestone operates a hybrid revenue model combining one-time product sales (primary cells, subcellular fractions, reagents, magnetic separation beads and kits), professional services (custom cell isolation, hPB Leukopak collection, cryopreservation, cold chain logistics), and CRO services (ADCC/ADCP assays, MLR testing, cytokine detection, drug efficacy evaluation in primary cell models). Pricing is custom-quoted per specifications, donor profile, and volume. The go-to-market is B2B sales-led, targeting biopharmaceutical companies, CGT developers, and academic research institutions via key account coverage, conference exhibitions (AACR, BIO, CGCS, QbD, I-CAR), and an integrated marketing presence on WeChat, Douyin, and other Chinese channels. The company claims over 2,000 partner organizations and explicitly positions itself as a domestic import-substitution player addressing China's 'bottleneck' in upstream biopharma research materials, with US ambitions managed through a San Diego office.

Milestone is backed by state-backed Zhongke Haichuang and Yida Capital following its 2023 Series A (over RMB 100M), and by Xingzheng Capital following its 2025 Series A+ (near RMB 100M), with Hillhouse's GL Ventures, Titan Technology, and Tongyu Fund as co-investors. The company is led by founder and CEO Zhang Jinbao, with a chief scientific officer trained at Tsinghua and the University of Basel. It holds ISO 9001/14001/45001 certifications, has been recognized as a National High-Tech Enterprise and Shanghai 'Specialized, Refined, Differential and Innovative' SME, and has led the drafting of a group standard for cell therapy Leukopak raw materials while participating in a national PBMC preservation standard.

Name

Milestone

Legal name

妙顺（上海）生物科技有限公司

Website

https://miles-bio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Milestone (妙顺生物) is a Shanghai-based Chinese life-sciences tools company founded in 2014 that provides primary cells, cryopreservation reagents, magnetic separation platforms, and CRO services to biopharmaceutical companies, cell-and-gene-therapy developers, and academic research institutions, positioning itself as a domestic import substitute for upstream biopharma research materials.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biotechnology Research Services

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (62151)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro primary industry

Cell Processing & Ancillary Materials (media, cytokines, beads, vectors, disposables) (HLAAABAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cell Therapy Enabling Technologies (gene editing, cell engineering, delivery methods) (HLAAABAL), Cell Therapy Quality, Analytics & Release Testing (potency, sterility, comparability) (HLAAABAK), Specialty & Biomarker Laboratory Services (Immunoassays/Flow/Cytometry) (HLAGAEAB)

Keywords

• Primary cell isolation
• Cell therapy services
• Cryopreservation solutions
• Subcellular fractions
• Drug discovery services

Headquarters

HQ city

Zhangjiang

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Primary Cell Products: One-time sale of isolated primary cells including PBMC, immune cell subsets (T cells, B cells, NK cells, monocytes), liver cells, and subcellular fractions (microsomes, S9 fraction). Revenue from direct product sales to biopharma companies and research institutions.
2. Cell Isolation and Separation Services: Custom primary cell isolation services including hPB Leukopak collection, PBMC separation, immune cell subset isolation. Services include quality control, cryopreservation, and cold chain logistics.
3. Biological Reagents and Consumables: Sale of cell culture media, cryopreservation solutions, magnetic separation beads, and related reagents. Consumable products with recurring purchase patterns.
4. Drug Development Platform Services: CRO services including ADCC/ADCP assay, MLR testing, cytokine detection, and drug efficacy evaluation using primary cell models.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Milestone (妙顺生物 / MileCell) provides primary cell isolation, separation, and cryopreservation products and services for biopharmaceutical companies, cell and gene therapy developers, and academic researchers. Its core offering is the proprietary TPCS platform delivering human primary cells (PBMC, immune cell subsets, liver cells, stem cells), animal primary cells across multiple species, subcellular fractions (microsomes, S9, lysosomes), biological matrices, SLC transporters, and cryopreservation reagents. It also offers tumor immunology CRO services including ADCC/ADCP assays, MLR testing, and drug efficacy evaluation using primary cell models.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TPCS® (The Primary Cell Solution): Self-developed brand platform providing primary cell isolation services, cell culture reagents, and comprehensive cell technology services for drug discovery and development.
• MileCell MagSep™
• Kryogene™
• 凌生科技 (Lingsheng Technology)

Products and services

• Human Primary Cells — Healthy Donor & Disease Patient-Derived Catalog and custom-isolated human primary cells sourced from healthy donors and disease patients, for use by biopharmaceutical R&D, cell therapy developers, and academic researchers in immunology, oncology, and regenerative medicine studies.
• Animal Primary Cells Multi-species animal primary cells for preclinical drug discovery, including immune cells, hepatocytes, intestinal epithelial cells, kidney proximal tubular epithelial cells, skeletal muscle cells, and brain microvascular endothelial cells for in vivo and in vitro pharmacology studies.
• Subcellular Fractions (Microsomes, S9, Lysosomes) Subcellular fractions including liver microsomes, intestinal microsomes, liver S9, intestinal S9, induced liver S9, and liver lysosomes for ADME/DMPK and drug metabolism studies.
• SLC Transporters (OAT1, OCT2, MOCK) Overexpression cell lines for SLC drug transporters OAT1 and OCT2 plus MOCK control cells, used in drug-drug interaction and renal/hepatic transport studies.
• Biological Matrices (Bio-matrix) Healthy human donor biological matrices including blood-derived bio-matrix, other biological fluids, and tissue matrices used as assay matrices and reference standards.
• Kryogene™ DMSO-Free Cryopreservation Solution Clinical-grade DMSO-free cryopreservation medium for immune cells, stem cells, and other primary cell types, eliminating the cytotoxic risks of DMSO while maintaining post-thaw viability and function.
• Kryoplus™ Serum-Free Cryopreservation Solutions Serum-free and xeno-free cryopreservation media for immune cells and mesenchymal stem cells, designed for cost-efficient and regulatory-friendly cell storage.
• MileCell MagSep™ Nanomagnetic Cell Separation Platform Proprietary nanomagnetic bead-based platform for multi-dimensional immune cell sorting, including positive selection kits (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD14) and negative selection panels, used for cell therapy and immunology research.
• hPB Leukopak Collection Service Apheresis-based collection service for high-quality hPB Leukopak white blood cell samples, including healthy donor and mobilized donor collection plus irradiation and plateletpheresis/RBC/neutrophil collection options, for cell therapy raw material supply.
• Tumor Immunology & Drug Efficacy Evaluation CRO Services CRO services for biopharmaceutical R&D including ADCC/ADCP assays, mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) testing, cytokine detection, and in vitro/in vivo drug efficacy evaluation using Milestone's primary cell models.
• Custom Primary Cell Isolation & Separation Services Custom cell isolation and separation services for biopharma and cell therapy clients requiring tailored cell types, donor profiles, quality specifications, cryopreservation, and cold-chain logistics.

Quantifiable outcome

• Cell viability ≥90% for frozen PBMC and immune cell products
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major.

• MaoXing Bio (茂行生物)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 October 2023Strategic partnership for universal CAR-T development. Miaoshun provides PBMC raw materials for MaoXing's MT027 glioblastoma CAR-T product, supporting IND filing.
• Xinxie Bio (欣协生物)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 September 2023Strategic cooperation to provide comprehensive CGT solutions. Xinxie provides cell therapy equipment while Miaoshun provides cell raw materials.
• Baijun Bio (佰君生物)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 August 2023Strategic cooperation framework signed for preclinical drug discovery services integration. Combining Miaoshun's primary cells with Baijun's CRO platform to provide integrated drug discovery solutions.
• Yinjia Bio (引加生物)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 August 2023Strategic partnership combining Miaoshun's cell products with Yinjia's protein technology platform to develop cell-related reagents for biopharma customers.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• STEMCELL Technologies: Canadian-headquartered leader in primary cell isolation products (PBMC, immune cell subsets, leukopak), cell culture media, and cell separation reagents — the most direct global competitor to Milestone's TPCS primary cell platform across both research and CGT-manufacturing use cases.
• Miltenyi Biotec: German provider of magnetic-bead cell separation (MACS), primary cells, leukopak, and cryopreservation media used across CGT manufacturing — directly comparable to Milestone's MileCell MagSep and TPCS offerings, and the global benchmark Milestone must displace in Chinese CGT labs.
• ACROBiosystems: Beijing-headquartered provider of recombinant proteins, cell biology reagents, magnetic beads, and CGT process consumables — directly competes with Milestone in China for cell isolation reagents, magnetic separation tools, and bioprocess consumables.
• Sino Biological: Chinese reagents and cell products supplier offering recombinant proteins, antibodies, and cell biology tools used in CGT and biopharma research — overlaps with Milestone's reagent and primary cell offerings for the same Chinese customer base.
• CellGenix: German supplier of GMP-grade cell therapy raw materials including cryopreservation media, cytokines, and cell processing reagents — directly comparable to Milestone's Kryogene/Kryoplus and ancillary materials portfolio, particularly for clinical-grade cell therapy supply.
• GenScript ProBio: GenScript's CDMO arm offering plasmid, viral vector, and cell therapy process services from China and the US — competes with Milestone in cell therapy enabling services and adjacent upstream bioprocess support.

Broad incumbents

• Lonza: Swiss CDMO and primary cell/media supplier with a large Cell & Gene Technologies business serving global CGT developers — competes with Milestone in cell therapy raw materials and process development services but as part of a much broader biomanufacturing portfolio.
• Bio-Techne: US life-science tools company with primary cells, leukopak, cytokines, and cell therapy reagents (R&D Systems, Tocris, PeproTech) — overlapping with Milestone's reagent, cell, and media product lines as part of a much wider proteomics and diagnostics franchise.
• Charles River Laboratories: Large US CRO/CDMO with cell therapy services, primary cell products, and safety/analytics labs — overlaps Milestone's drug metabolism and cell-based CRO services, though Charles River operates across a far broader discovery-to-manufacturing portfolio.
• WuXi AppTec: China's largest CRO/CDMO offering preclinical drug discovery, biologics, and cell therapy services — competes with Milestone in biopharma CRO services and liver-cell-based DMPK assays, though at significantly greater scale and breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors8 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Milestone