A Tokyo biotech firm has set up its first outpost outside Japan right in the heart of University City, betting that Philadelphia's deep bench of cell and gene therapy talent can help it crack one of the industry's toughest problems: making enough therapeutic cells to actually treat patients at scale. CellFiber Inc. opened its doors at CIC Philadelphia, inside the 14-story building at 3675 Market Street, on October 1.
The move marks CellFiber's first subsidiary outside Japan, according to PR Newswire, which reported that the company secured office and laboratory space inside CIC Philadelphia, a shared life sciences workspace within the University City Science Center's uCity Square campus. The new subsidiary officially opened on October 1 to offer bioprocessing technology support to U.S. developers of iPSC, MSC, and CAR-T cell therapies. The building opened in November 2018, per the Science Center's own account of the site.
A Seaweed-Based Fix for Cell Manufacturing's Bottleneck
CellFiber was founded in April 2015. The company grows therapeutic cells in three dimensions inside fibers made of alginate hydrogel, with the goal of enabling large-scale production of cells used in regenerative medicine and cancer treatments. Scaling production has remained a persistent challenge as cell therapies move from clinical trials toward wider use.
To tackle it, the company introduced the Zeito Plus System in December 2025 — formerly known as the CellFiber Extruder — a GMP-compatible device engineered for large-scale production of cell-containing fibers, as reported by BioBuzz. BioBuzz described the system as part of CellFiber's effort to support developers working to scale iPSC, MSC, and CAR-T cell therapies. CellFiber has already shown early traction stateside: the firm entered a research collaboration with solid tumor immunotherapy developer Tidewave Bio in August 2026 to evaluate its automated 3D cell culture system for producing off-the-shelf cell therapies, according to BioSpace.
Why Philadelphia, According to CellFiber's CEO
CellFiber president and CEO Kazuchika Furuishi said Philadelphia's leadership in cell and gene therapy innovation informed the company's choice of city. Furuishi pointed to Philadelphia's role in helping pioneer the world's first CAR-T cell therapy as a reason the region became a magnet for companies in the field. He described the new Philadelphia site as the starting point for taking CellFiber's technology global and helping more patients benefit from regenerative medicine.
A Cluster Still Climbing the National Rankings
The local numbers back up Furuishi's pitch. Greater Philadelphia rose to fifth place among U.S. biotech clusters in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News' 2026 national rankings. The region has nearly 10,000 cell and gene therapy workers. Greater Philadelphia has also been ranked second nationally as a cell and gene therapy hub, behind Boston.
By choosing CIC Philadelphia, the company is based within the University City Science Center's uCity Square campus.
CellFiber's U.S. Plans
The company plans to introduce its cell-manufacturing technology to U.S. customers, build relationships with American biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and pursue research collaborations with academic institutions.
