John Lu

President & CEO

Biography

John Lu is currently the President and CEO of HebeCell Corporation. Established in April of 2016, HebeCell focuses on the fields of Immunotherapy and Regenerative Medicine. Our mission is to develop and commercialize human iPSC-based cell therapeutics for multiple human diseases.

HebeCell has developed a platform technology using a scalable 3-D bioreactor system for the expansion and differentiation of human iPSCs towards immune and other lineages. Based on this 3D platform, HebeCell currently has two ongoing programs: 1) Immunotherapy Program: human iPSC-derived off-the-shelf CAR-NK Cells for the treatment of multiple tumours including blood and solid tumours, as well as autoimmune and infectious diseases; 2) Ocular Program: human iPSC-derived photoreceptor progenitors for the treatment of macular degeneration including Retinitis Pigmentosa, Stargardt’s Disease and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

Before establishing HebeCell, John was the Senior Director of Research at Advanced Cell Technology/Ocata Therapeutics from 2005 to 2016, which was acquired by Astellas in 2016, the 2nd largest pharmaceutical company in Japan. During his tenure at ACT/Ocata, John developed the hemangioblast, red blood cell, MK/platelet and MSC programs, as well as photoreceptor and retinal ganglion cell programs.