Defined Bioscience

What Defined Bioscience does

Defined Bioscience is a privately held, scientist-founded life science tools company headquartered in San Diego, founded in 2020, that develops and sells chemically defined, animal-origin-free, serum-free media, supplements, and growth factors for human pluripotent stem cell (PSC) and iPSC culture. The product portfolio spans cell culture media (HiDef B8 maintenance medium, DMEM/F12 basal, HiDef-S8 suspension medium for bioreactor scale-up), supplements and reagents (Ready-CEPT viability cocktail, HiDef PBS/EDTA dissociation reagent, N-2 neural supplement, ITS supplement), and a proprietary FGF2 family that includes thermostable FGF2-G3 variants (human and bovine, half-life beyond 21 days at 37°C versus ~12 hours wild-type) plus species-specific FGF2 homologs (chicken, tuna) for cultivated-meat and cross-species applications. Differentiated technology rests on a nine-mutation stabilized FGF2 backbone and an openly disclosed four-component CEPT-derived cytoprotection cocktail, with formulations validated across more than 100 hiPSC and hESC lines for over 50 passages.

The company monetizes primarily through direct e-commerce sales of catalog research-grade consumables priced from $18 to $250 per SKU, with a parallel quote-based channel for cGMP-manufactured media, bulk orders, and custom formulation services. Distribution is direct-to-customer via the company website, shipping globally with 100+ country checkout capability and no third-party distributors disclosed. The customer base spans academic researchers (UC San Diego, Tufts, Texas A&M, UVA, BYU, Penn State, UEA, NIH), early-stage biotechs (iLABS, Vala Sciences, Novoron Bioscience), cultivated-meat innovators, and core facilities/CROs, reached through inside sales, scientific publication strategy, and conference presence at ISSCR and BMES. Strategic posture is clearly expansionary: the HiDef-S8 launch opens the manufacturing-scale vertical, FGF2 homologs target the cultivated-meat vertical, and 2025–2026 partnerships with Pluristyx (Organoid COMMONS consortium, iPSC transfection platform with Solesis), NanoCellect, Distek, and IST Lisbon are actively embedding Defined Bioscience's media into broader iPSC, organoid, and bioreactor workflow ecosystems.

Name

Defined Bioscience

Legal name

Defined Bioscience

Website

https://definedbioscience.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Defined Bioscience is a San Diego-based life science tools company that develops and sells chemically defined, animal-origin-free media, supplements, and thermostable FGF2 growth factors for human iPSC and PSC research, bioreactor scale-up, and cultivated-meat applications via direct e-commerce to global academic and biotech customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Stem Cell Culture Media

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro primary industry

Cell Culture Media & Growth Factor Suppliers (Food-Grade) (AFANAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cultivated (Cell-Based) Protein Foods Manufacturing (AFAKAGAI), Specialty & Novel Proteins (Single-Cell Protein, Cell-Cultured/Animal-Free Proteins) (AFAJAHAL)

Keywords

• Stem cell culture media
• Serum-free media
• Cell culture reagents
• Growth factors
• Life science tools

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research and cGMP Media Products: One-time purchase revenue from sale of defined media, supplements, growth factors, and reagents for stem cell research, regenerative medicine, drug discovery, and cellular agriculture. Products sold in standard and cGMP formats. Revenue generated through direct e-commerce sales, phone/email orders, and quote-based enterprise purchasing.
2. Custom Formulation Services: Custom media and reagent formulation services tailored to specific customer cell types and workflows. Requested via custom formulation page. Adds premium pricing opportunity for specialized or OEM-style formulations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Defined Bioscience develops, manufactures, and sells chemically defined, animal-origin-free, serum-free cell culture media, supplements, growth factors, and reagents for human pluripotent stem cell (PSC) and iPSC research, differentiation, cryopreservation, and bioprocess scale-up. Its catalog centers on the HiDef B8 Stem Cell Growth Medium, the FGF2-G3 thermostable growth factor family (human and bovine variants), the Ready-CEPT cell viability cocktail, neural and ITS supplements, and species-specific FGF2 (chicken, tuna) for cultivated meat applications, all sold direct via an e-commerce storefront with cGMP and custom formulation options.

Product overview

Defined Bioscience is a life science tools company that develops a portfolio of chemically defined, animal-origin-free media, supplements, and reagents for stem cell research and cellular agriculture. The core product portfolio centers on HiDef® B8 Stem Cell Growth Medium, a complete serum-free defined formulation for feeder-free maintenance and expansion of human pluripotent stem cells. Complementary products include DMEM/F12 Basal Medium (designed to work with HiDef-B8 supplement), Ready-CEPT® Cell Viability Enhancer (a cytoprotective cocktail for improved survival during passaging and cryopreservation), HiDef® PBS/EDTA Cell Dissociation Reagent (for gentle cell detachment), HiDef® N-2 Neural Medium Supplement (for neural culture and differentiation), and HiDef® ITS Cell Culture Supplement (serum replacement for reduced-serum conditions). The company also offers a suite of thermostable FGF2 growth factors including FGF2-G3 (human) and FGF2-G3 (bovine) variants with enhanced stability, as well as species-specific FGF2 products (chicken, tuna) for cross-species applications, all available individually or bundled in the FGF2 Screening Kit. HiDef-S8 provides high-density suspension culture capability for bioreactor scale-up. Products are designed for open-label formulation transparency, enabling reproducible research and clinical translation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HiDef B8 Stem Cell Growth Medium A complete, serum-free, chemically defined formulation for feeder-free maintenance and expansion of human pluripotent stem cells in an undifferentiated state, containing insulin, ascorbic acid-2-phosphate, transferrin, sodium selenite, TGFB3, NRG1, and thermostable FGF2/bFGF. Available in research and cGMP formats and in complete kit or supplement-only configurations.
• DMEM/F12 Basal Medium A fully defined 1:1 mixture of DMEM and Ham's F-12 buffered with HEPES and sodium bicarbonate, using L-alanyl-L-glutamine in place of glutamine for improved cell health and stability, intended as the basal medium paired with the HiDef B8 400X Supplement for complete PSC maintenance.
• Ready-CEPT Cell Viability Enhancer A defined 1000X cocktail that improves stem cell survival and growth during routine passaging, cryopreservation, freeze-thaw recovery, single-cell cloning, and gene editing by combining chroman-1, emricasan, polyamines, and trans-ISRIB for broader cytoprotection than ROCK inhibitor-only products.
• HiDef PBS/EDTA Cell Dissociation Reagent A defined, protein-free 1x DPBS solution (without calcium and magnesium) supplemented with 0.5 mM EDTA at pH 7.4, formulated for gentle adherent cell dissociation during routine aggregate passaging (4-5 minutes) or single-cell suspension (8-10+ minutes) without impacting cell functionality or surface protein integrity.
• HiDef N-2 Neural Medium Supplement A defined 100X supplement for culture of neurons, neural progenitor cells, stem cells, and neuroblastoma cells, and for neural and pancreatic differentiation of ESCs and iPSCs, containing insulin, transferrin, sodium selenite, putrescine, and progesterone.
• HiDef ITS Cell Culture Supplement A defined 100X supplement combining insulin (1.00 mg/mL), transferrin (0.55 mg/mL), and sodium selenite (0.67 microgram/mL) in EBSS without phenol red, enabling serum reduction to 4 percent or less for primary cells, immortalized lines, and PSCs in adherent culture.
• FGF2-G3 (human) growth factor A stabilized human FGF2 (FGF2-STAB) differing from wild-type FGF2 at nine key residues to extend half-life beyond 21 days at 37 degrees Celsius (versus approximately 12 hours for wild-type), enabling use at 40 ng/mL in pluripotency medium instead of 100 ng/mL, available in liquid and lyophilized formats.
• FGF2-G3 (bovine) growth factor A thermostabilized bovine/porcine FGF2 (btFGF2-G3) differing from native bovine FGF2 at nine key residues for increased thermostability, with EC50 below 1 ng/mL in NIH-3T3 proliferation assays, intended for species-specific workflows such as cultivated meat, available in liquid (1 mg/mL) or powder form.
• FGF2 (chicken) growth factor A purified, animal-origin-free recombinant FGF2 from Gallus gallus (domestic chicken) with N-terminal hexahistidine tag, purity above 95 percent by SDS-PAGE, endotoxin below 0.1 ng/microgram, and EC50 below 2 ng/mL in NIH-3T3 proliferation assays, for cross-species and poultry-derived research.
• FGF2 (tuna) growth factor A purified, animal-origin-free recombinant FGF2 from Thunnus albacares (yellowfin tuna) with N-terminal hexahistidine tag, purity above 95 percent by SDS-PAGE and EC50 below 2 ng/mL in NIH-3T3 proliferation assays, for cross-species aquatic and cultivated seafood research.
• FGF2 Screening Kit A research kit containing four animal-free, recombinantly expressed FGF2 variants (FGF2-G3 human, FGF2-G3 bovine/porcine, FGF2 chicken, FGF2 tuna) in 10 or 50 microgram aliquots, enabling direct comparison of thermostable and species-specific growth factor performance across human and non-human cell culture workflows.
• HiDef-S8 Stem Cell Growth Medium A high-density suspension medium designed for carrier-free expansion of human pluripotent stem cells in stirred-tank single-use bioreactors, building on the defined, animal-free composition of HiDef B8 and supporting rapid aggregate formation and high-density expansion (demonstrated 7 billion hPSCs in 5 days in a 2L bioreactor).
• Custom Formulation Service A bespoke media and reagent formulation service in which Defined Bioscience develops tailored chemical compositions for specific customer cell types and workflows, accessed via the Request a Custom Formulation page and priced on a quote basis per scope and volume.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tested across >100 human iPSC and ESC lines for broad compatibility
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Pluristyx and SolesiscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 February 2026Defined Bioscience collaborates with Pluristyx and Solesis on a new iPSC transfection platform. The collaboration leverages Defined Bioscience's defined media systems, Pluristyx's iPSC expertise, and Solesis's technologies to advance iPSC engineering workflows.
• PluristyxcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 December 2025Defined Bioscience is listed as an industry partner in the Organoid COMMONS consortium launched by Pluristyx alongside nine other industry leaders. The consortium aims to establish global standards for organoid development to replace animal testing in drug discovery. Defined Bioscience contributes its defined, animal-free media and reagent expertise to support standardized iPSC banking and organoid library workflows.
• NanoCellect BiomedicalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with NanoCellect Biomedical to demonstrate use of HiDef B8 medium with the WOLF G2 cell sorter for isolation and expansion of homogeneous hiPSCs expressing SSEA-4 and TRA-1-60-R surface markers. Demonstrated healthy morphology, viability, and robust post-sorting recovery.
• DistekminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative poster presentation at BMES 2025 demonstrating high-density suspension expansion of human PSCs using HiDef S8 in Distek's BIOne single-use bioreactor system. Generated 7 billion cells in 5 days in a 2L bioreactor.
• IST LisbonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative poster at BMES 2025 led by IST Lisbon evaluating HiDef S8 performance in stirred-tank bioreactor iPSC expansion, comparing automated feeding strategies and demonstrating superior growth, higher TRA-1-60+ yields, and cost efficiency.
• PluriBank (Pluristyx)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerApplication note demonstrating that HiDef B8 in combination with Ready-CEPT and PluriFreeze enables high-efficiency, reproducible expansion and cryopreservation of clinical-grade human iPSCs (PluriBank) under fully defined, xeno-free conditions. Validated two independent lines maintaining >90% viability and stable pluripotency markers.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Pluristyx: iPSC banking and cell therapy tools company that partners with Defined Bioscience in the Organoid COMMONS consortium and on the iPSC transfection platform. Comparable as a stem cell/cell therapy tools player with overlapping customer base, though Pluristyx focuses on iPSC lines and contract services rather than media.
• Cellero (formerly Astero Biologics): Specialty supplier of primary cells, immune cells, and cell culture reagents for research and translational customers. Comparable to Defined Bioscience in the cell biology research tools space with a similarly sized, niche product catalog and academic/biotech customer base.

Direct peers

• CellGenix: Manufacturer of GMP-grade cell culture media, growth factors, and reagents for cell and gene therapy manufacturing. Directly comparable to Defined Bioscience's cGMP/clinical-grade media and growth factor portfolio serving the same cell therapy customer base.
• STEMCELL Technologies: Canadian life sciences tools company and developer of mTeSR, the dominant defined, feeder-free PSC maintenance medium. Directly comparable to Defined Bioscience's HiDef B8 in target customer (stem cell researchers), product category (defined PSC media), and go-to-market (catalog + direct sales).
• Akron Biotechnology: GMP manufacturer of ancillary materials and defined media for cell therapy, regenerative medicine, and advanced therapy developers. Comparable to Defined Bioscience in defined, animal-origin-free media and growth factor products for clinical-grade cell therapy workflows.

Broad incumbents

• Corning Life Sciences: Supplies defined media (including stem cell media) and cell culture vessels. Overlaps with Defined Bioscience in defined media and adherent cell culture workflows, but operates as a broad cell culture consumables incumbent rather than a stem-cell-focused specialist.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific (Gibco Cell Culture): Broad life sciences incumbent whose Gibco brand supplies defined PSC media, growth factors, and cell therapy manufacturing reagents. Overlaps with Defined Bioscience in PSC media and FGF2 growth factors, but competes as part of a much larger portfolio rather than specializing in stem-cell-specific defined media.
• Bio-Techne (R&D Systems): Major life sciences reagents supplier offering recombinant growth factors (including FGF2), media supplements, and stem cell reagents. Comparable to Defined Bioscience in growth factor and supplement product lines, but with a much broader proteomics and diagnostics portfolio.
• Miltenyi Biotec: Cell and gene therapy tools provider offering media, growth factors, and cell processing reagents. Comparable to Defined Bioscience in supplying defined reagents for PSC and immune cell workflows, with a much larger cell therapy commercial infrastructure.
• FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific: Cell culture media manufacturer with a strong cell therapy and regenerative medicine portfolio (including PRIME-XV media). Comparable to Defined Bioscience as a defined media supplier for PSC and cell therapy manufacturing, but operates at much greater scale and breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Defined Bioscience