Each year the biotech industry gathers to discuss trends, share insights, and explore partnership opportunities at the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest meeting of its kind.
The University of Pittsburgh Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) was well represented at this gathering of more than 6,000 industry leaders from startups to biotech giants, academia, non-profits and government entities from around the world, held earlier in June in San Diego.
Industry partnerships directors Mike Flock, Paul-Valentin Pitou and Brian Vidic were joined by Maria Vanegas, senior life sciences licensing manager from the Innovation Institute to discuss sponsored research and licensing partnering opportunities in the life sciences.
Together they had 105 individual meetings with interested partners centered on the 350 Pitt technologies that they uploaded into the BIO partnering system, outpacing all of the other attending universities, in key therapeutic areas from gene therapy to oncology, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s, and more.
Many of the companies Pitt met with were impressed with the number of high-quality and innovative technology assets available for partnering.
Pitt consistently ranks in the top 10 of universities funded by the National Institutes of Health and spins out approximately a dozen companies per year with a life science/biotech focus.
In Fiscal 2024, Pitt’s Office of Industry and Economic Partnerships (OIEP) pursued more than 400 new business development opportunities and assisted in securing nearly $15 million in new industry-sponsored research funding.