It is a spin-off of the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and was founded in 2009 by Etienne Sokal, who is currently director and chief scientific officer, and Sopartec, UCL's technology transfer office.

Through its April 2016 acquisition of the key assets of Cytonet GmbH, the international cellular therapy company involving primary human hepatocytes, Promethera became the world’s leading and most advanced cell therapy and regenerative medicine company targeting liver diseases.