ThinkCyte Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering Ghost Cytometry, a proprietary AI-based, label-free cell sorting technology, today announced the establishment of their new US office in the San Francisco Bay Area and the appointment of Janette Phi as Chief Business Officer (CBO). Both are major milestones in the company’s continued global expansion and growth. The previous acting CBO, Hikaru Nagahori, has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and President of ThinkCyte, North America.
The new location in San Carlos, CA is the company’s first office outside of its Tokyo headquarters and will be home to a growing team of biologists, data scientists, and commercial executives. Following recent announcements of strategic partnerships with leading scientific instrument manufacturers and the successful closing of $26M in Series B funding, the establishment of a US-base of operations is a significant step in the company’s plans to commercialize ThinkCyte’s technology. ThinkCyte’s platform, originally described in Science, enables researchers to isolate specific cell populations of interest, untouched by external molecular labels, for downstream R&D applications.
“We are very excited to announce these major achievements in the company’s continued growth,” said ThinkCyte’s CEO Waichiro Katsuda. “The San Francisco Bay Area has a storied history for bringing new life science technologies to market and we couldn’t imagine a better place to continue our engagements with innovation-minded partners. We are also extraordinarily fortunate to bring someone of Janette Phi’s caliber and experience to ThinkCyte. She is a recognized industry leader with a proven track record of guiding innovative scientific instrumentation companies through the pivotal stages of their commercial evolution.”
Ms. Phi brings over 30 years of business experience with advanced scientific technology companies. She has served as CBO for IntelliCyt, COO for Xcell Biosciences and CCO for Applied Cells and ONI. She holds a B.S. in Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA with an emphasis in Marketing & Finance from Santa Clara University.
Commenting on her appointment, Ms. Phi said, “Throughout my career, I’ve been exposed to many novel technologies, but ThinkCyte’s approach is truly revolutionary. I am thrilled to join a purpose-driven company providing an entirely new way of looking at biology. The impact on disease diagnosis and drug development will drive better clinical, operational, and research outcomes for biopharmaceutical organizations of all sizes.”
To learn more about partnering opportunities with ThinkCyte, contact here. For information about job opportunities at ThinkCyte, explore our careers page.
About ThinkCyte Inc.
ThinkCyte, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a biotechnology company that develops innovative instruments based on integrated, multidisciplinary technologies to enable life science research, diagnostics, and therapeutic development. The company pioneered Ghost Cytometry, a proprietary AI-based, label-free cell sorting technology and works with major global biopharmaceutical companies and leading academic research institutes to further drive pioneering research. The company was selected for the prestigious J-Startup program by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and has graduated from the Berkeley SkyDeck Startup Accelerator program. Visit www.thinkcyte.com.
