The Pitt McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine has racked up some impressive numbers in its 25-year existence. Researchers affiliated with McGowan have had 140 patents issued, filed more than 900 invention disclosures; had their technology licensed more than 170 times and have spun out nearly 30 companies from the University. We sat down with McGowan's director since 2011, William Wagner, to discuss the reasons behind its success and what exciting things are happening in its labs that are changing the way patients are treated for a wide range of diseases and injuries.
Pitt smashed its record for startups in Fiscal 2018, which concludes today. (Final numbers for the year will be reported next month.) One of the driving factors for the increase in startup activity is an evolution in policy at the university making it possible for faculty to take positions within a startup. Today we catch up with Globin Solutions, a recent startup formed from research from the lab of Dr. Mark Gladwin, led by Jason Rose, an assistant professor, who is the new company's CEO.
At the recent annual BIO International Convention, more than 18,000 attendees converged on Boston to chart the biotech industry’s future and hold nearly 47,000 partnering meetings, a certified world record. The Innovation Institute was on hand to showcase its portfolio of life science discoveries available for licensing and to seek potential partnerships with industry, entrepreneurs and investors. Once again, the red hot field of cancer immunotherapy was front and center in a lot of the discussions. While in Boston, we took the opportunity to visit Pitt spinout, Oncorus, which is developing therapies in the emerging oncolytic virus domain of immunotherapy, to get an update on the company’s progress.
Mentoring at Pitt can be a rewarding experience both for the faculty/student entrepreneur and for the mentor who plays an often transformative role in helping translate a potentially world-changing idea or research discovery into a product or service that makes a difference in people's lives.
2016 Randall Family Big Idea Competition winner, POD. From left: Alec Kaija, Blake Dube and Mark Spitz. POD is also set to travel to Georgia Tech University for inaugural ACC InVenture Prize competition. $100,000 in prize money awarded to 16 student teams from across the University