Pitt Innovators were issued 15 U.S. patents in June 2026.
Featured patent: 12,649,019 “Degradable Magnesium-Based Implant Devices for Bone Fixation“
Approximately 2 million bone fractures in the U.S. annually require fasteners made of non-degrading metals, such as titanium or stainless steel, to keep bone fragments in position as the injury heals. These fasteners often protrude from the skin for easy removal but have a complication rate of more than 40 percent. Pitt innovators have developed a new class of internal fixation hardware made from magnesium alloyed with yttrium, calcium, and zirconium. Unlike permanent titanium and steel implants, these devices gradually dissolve as the bone heals — eliminating the need for removal surgery while actively stimulating new bone growth. The preclinical results demonstrated that bone healed around the degrading hardware and returned to the same load-bearing capacity as bone that was never injured, which is a high bar for any fixation technology. This technology is available for licensing.
Below is a listing of all patents issued to Pitt innovators in June 2026:
| Patent Number |
Title | Inventor(s) | Licensing Manager | Status | |||
| 12,653,926 | Extracellular Matrix-Derived Gels and Related Methods | Stephen Badylak; Donald Freytes | Alex Ducruet | Licensed | |||
| 12,642,891 | Systems and Methods for Selective Coating Removal for Resorbable Metal Medical Devices | Elia Beniash; Avinash Patil | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,649,019 | Degradable Magnesium-Based Implant Devices for Bone Fixation | Prashant Kumta; Dae Ho Hong; Da-Tren Chou; Abhijit Roy | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,653,843 | Compositions Comprising Extracellular Matrix of Primitive Animal Species and Related Methods | Yadong Wang; William Chen | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,642,832 | Oncolytic Virus Therapy | David Bartlett; Mathilde Feist; Zong Sheng Guo; Zuqiang Liu | Maria Vanegas | Licensed | |||
| 12,653,785 | Compositions and Methods for Administering a YAP1/WWRT1 Inhibiting Composition and a GLS1 Inhibiting Composition | Abhinav Acharya; Steven Little; Stephen Chan | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,643,924 | Cardiac-Specific Targeting-Peptide (CTP), Composition, and Uses Thereof | Maliha Zahid | Maria Vanegas | Optioned | |||
| 12,655,213 | Covalent Adaptor Synnotch and Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARS) for Programmable Antigen-Targeting | Jason Lohmueller; Alexander Deiters | Andrew Remes | Licensed | |||
| 12,653,881 | Measles Virus Vaccine Expressing SARS-COV-2 Proteins | William Paul Duprex; Shamkumar Nambulli; Natasha Tilston-Lunel; Linda Murphy | Alex Ducruet | Unavailable | |||
| 12,653,551 | Surgical Drill for Craniosynostosis and Endoscopic Procedures | Michael McDowell | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,667,449 | Degradable Magnesium Tenting Device for Faster Surgeries and Improved Outcomes in Vertical Ridge Augmentation | Charles Sfeir; Andrew Brown | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,656,689 | Systems and Methods for Forming Topological Lattices of Plasmonic Merons | Hrovje Petek; Hikang Zhou; Atreyie Ghosh; Sena Yang; Tianyi Wang; Chen-Bin Huang | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||
| 12,671,007 | Systems and Methods for Assembling Electron Spin and Charge to Possess Properties of a Magnetic Monopole | Hrovje Petek; Yanan Dai; Chen-Bin Huang; Atreyie Ghosh; Zhikang Zhou | Janice Panza | Available for Licesning | |||
| 12,667,657 | Adjustable Liposuction Cannula | Cameron Dezfulian; William Clark; Sohsan Qaium; Dennis Wist | Janice Panza | Available for Licensing | |||