Coming into the summer, our feet are burning from taking the ecosystem on the road. There have been some hot raises from Pittsburgh companies, and things have certainly not cooled down in Harrisburg or in Washington. Read, react, and share the latest from the Southwest PA life sciences ecosystem and beyond. | | |
We asked you answered -
CEO Survey on Impact of Federal Changes
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In April, we conducted a survey with Pittsburgh area life sciences companies to assess how recent federal policy changes are affecting businesses. The survey captured company perspectives on funding, regulatory processes, and investment trends in the sector. We have used these results to help members of Congress and their staff understand the private sector impacts on the ground.
Here is some of what we heard:
| | Taking Pittsburgh Life Sciences on the Road | | |
We have been working with regional partners to put Pittsburgh companies and innovation
on a national stage.
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American Society for Cell and Gene Therapy 2025 - New Orleans
In May, PLSA and the PRA attended the annual conference for the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy. Together we sponsored a reception that attracted scientists, industry business executives, and investors to a critical conversation on what advancements need to take place to help the economics and accessibility of cell and gene therapies keep pace with the speed of scientific advancement.
| | Stephen Thorne of Kalivir Immunotherapies, Tess Kitchener of Elevate Bio, and Tracy Dowling of AskBio shared their perspectives on a panel moderated by Lindsy Bartoleit of Cook Myosite. | |
BIO 2025 - Boston
The Commonwealth showed up in a big way at the world’s largest biotech gathering, which attracts over 20,000 industry leaders from 72 countries. Life Sciences PA hosted the Pennsylvania booth with support from the Department of Community and Economic Development. Throughout the event key meetings between company leaders and potential business partners, international delegations, and important federal agencies filled the booth with a purposeful buzz.
| Gov. Shapiro joins companies at the PA booth | Governor Shapiro visited with life sciences leaders in the state and took the conference stage for a fireside chat with BIO CEO John Crowley. “Pennsylvania is home to world-class research institutions, cutting-edge companies, and a workforce ready to lead the next generation of innovation,” he told Crowley. This kind of direct engagement from the Governor’s office serves as a clear signal to industry that the Commonwealth is open for life sciences business. | LSPA CEO Chris Molineux introduces Gov. Shapiro | PLSA’s Austin Price live from the BIO floor talking about ecosystem strengths and appeal | | |
Advancing Drug Discovery: AI, Preclinical Models & Clinical Insights
Coinciding with BIO, The University of Pittsburgh hosted an event with support from the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance and PLSA for dozens of risk capital leaders, industry titans, as well as life sciences experts with affinity for the Burgh. The lineage of Pitt’s medical and graduate programs in the life sciences was on full display, drawing in black and gold expats from across the country.
| Dr. Mark Geraci, Pitt's vice chancellor for research, health sciences and vice dean for research and professor of medicine, school of medicine | |
“We have an environment ripe for innovation. We are building the infrastructure and ecosystem that can take our research to the next level of product development,
commercialization, and manufacturing,” Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh told the audience. Pitt leaders shared how new AI capabilities, such as those being developed at the school’s Computational Pathology and AI Center of Excellence, and preclinical models are advancing drug discovery. Read a full recap of the event.
| Dr. Hooman Roshidi, Dr. Paul Monga, Dr. Jaideep Behari - University of Pittsburgh; Laura Benjamin, PhD - Myris Therapeutics; Dr. Patrick Lundgren, PhD - Hummingbird Ventures | Evan Facher, Pitt’s vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship | | Pressing for Innovation Support | | |
Several states at the forefront of life sciences job creation and economic output got there with support from strategic public sector investments over multiple decades. (Read our whitepaper on some of those policies.)
In May, Governor Shapiro held a press conference at The Assembly to highlight his proposal for a $50 million innovation fund. PLSA CEO and President Megan Shaw was invited to speak and highlighted the area’s differentiated strengths.
"There's an increasing intersection in AI and biotechnology, and this is fundamentally changing the landscape of human health innovation globally. The Pittsburgh region is at the forefront of both the capabilities and the talent that's driving that change," Shaw said from the podium.
Among other things, the proposal calls for starting a SBIR and STTR matching program in the state, which already exists in more than 30 other states. There is also a bill sponsored by Senators Farry and Haywood to create a state matching program which passed unanimously out of committee in June.
| | From left to right: Rob Lin, PhD, CFA, Avista Therapeutics, Jonathan Steckbeck, Peptilogics, Richard Lordo, Smith+Nephew, John Thomas, Krystal Biotech, Inc., joined us to hear Office of Governor Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development plans for investment in the Pennsylvania Innovation economy. | | |
CNBC Disruptor 50: ElevateBio CEO Ger Brophy on AI and CRISPR for rare disease treatments
CNBC
ElevateBio was named to CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list. Their CEO joined ‘Wordwide Exchange’ to talk about what is driving their company forward and their investment in the Pittsburgh region to build their second basecamp at BioForge.
Palantir + TeleTracking Partner to Power Smarter Hospital Operations
HIT Consultant
Pittsburgh based healthcare operations platform TeleTracking inked a strategic partnership with Palantir to integrate advanced analytics and AI into operational decision making.
Pittsburgh fuels a unicorn surge
Axios
The recent ascent of Skild AI, Abridge, and Geck Robotics to unicorn status, building on earlier success of Aurora, Duolingo, and Krystal Biotech highlights a growing trend of successful Pittsburgh raises and IPOs.
CBRE U.S. Life Sciences Talent Trends 2025
The report highlights talent, employment trends, and degree and certificates in the nation’s leading markets. Pittsburgh comes in at #23 with particular strength in medtech talent where the region is ranked #14.
BIO2025 Recap: FDA Reducing Animal Testing, Governor Shapiro on Supporting Biopharama, Practical AI Use
Bioprocess Online
From the stage at BIO Governor Shapiro outlined his office’s approach to grow the life sciences sector in PA, the importance of our R1 universities, and initiatives to streamline business processes.
UPMC Enterprises, Redesign Health Launch Glimmer Health to Transform Chronic Pain Management in Primary Care
HIT Consultant
Well known venture-builder Redesign Health and UPMC Enterprise launched their second new company together. Glimmer Health will build on extensive clinical expertise of UMPC in chronic pain management.
Google brings the power of AI to healthcare with new partnerships
SiliconAngle
Highmark Health’s Richard Clarke spoke to how a partnership with Google is helping the organization increase productivity, identify new efficiencies, and empower employees to build new use cases.
Krystal Biotech doses first patient in phase 3 trial IOLITE
Opthalmology Times
Continuing their track record of innovative delivery of gene therapies, Krystal Biotech dosed the first patient in their phase 3 clinical trial with a redosable eye drop designed to treat and prevent corneal abrasions in dystropic epidermolysis bullosa patients.
Cognition Therapeutics reports over 50% enrollment in phase II START study for Alzheimer's Treatment
Nasdaq
The trial is supported by a $81 million grant by the National Institute of Aging and is being conducted in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial Consortium.
Midwest Moxie
KaliVir Immunotherapeutics is developing immunotherapy programs for treating cancer.
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Peptilogics, a biotech company founded in 2013, is betting that the future of medicine lies in peptides—and is making serious inroads to prove it. With over $150 million in venture funding from prominent investors, the company is developing next-gen peptide therapeutics using a proprietary platform that combines deep biological insight with generative AI and supercomputing.
“We start by focusing on the principles that guide biology,” says founder and CEO Jonathan Steckbeck. “If we understand how systems operate at a fundamental level, we can build algorithms that predict how new molecules will behave—and we can do it with Speed.”
Peptides—short chains of amino acids—are already widely used in medicine (think: insulin), but Peptilogics believes their full therapeutic potential remains untapped. Offering a balance between the strengths of biologics and small molecules, peptides can be particularly effective at fighting infections because they are highly targeted and can also penetrate the dense biofilm layers that shield bacteria from most drugs. Peptilogics is initially focused on prosthetic joint infections (PJI), a serious complication of implanted medical devices. Its lead candidate targets knee replacements, where infections often lead to multiple surgeries and extended courses of high-dose antibiotics. The toll is high: a 25% five-year mortality rate—worse than many cancers—and treatment costs that can exceed $150,000 per case. Current treatments frequently fail.
“These infections are a terrible problem for patients—and they’re extremely costly for hospitals and insurers,” says Steckbeck. “We saw a massive unmet need and, importantly, a business case that makes sense.”
With FDA clearance to begin a Phase 2/3 registrational trial expected soon, the company is positioning its lead drug as a much-needed alternative in a U.S. market that sees nearly 800,000 knee replacements each year. But that’s just the beginning. Peptilogics plans to “land and expand”—starting with PJIs and moving into other infection-prone areas.
Next up: preventing infections in compound fractures, where infection rates can reach 45%. Because this next application is based on the same drug molecule as its lead candidate, Peptilogics believes it can leverage existing regulatory groundwork to accelerate development.
Steckbeck cites Pittsburgh as instrumental to the company’s founding and early momentum. He moved to the city to pursue a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular genetics and an MBA at the University of Pittsburgh, aiming to identify and spin out a promising technology. That vision became reality with Peptilogics, launched with support from Pitt’s Innovation Institute.
“With research and scientific talent from Pitt and CMU, the expertise here is world-class,” Steckbeck says. “And beyond the science, it’s a great place to live and raise a family.”
With its first clinical program nearing a key milestone and a scalable platform aimed at high-need areas, Peptilogics is positioning itself not just as a drug developer—but as a company pushing the boundaries of what peptide therapeutics can achieve.
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Haemonetics (NYSE: HAE) is a global medical manufacturing company specializing in three main areas: plasma collection, hospital technologies, and blood centers. The company employs over 3,000 employees globally with a market capitalization exceeding $3.5B.
The Pittsburgh region has long been critical to medical technology development and manufacturing for the company, and in 2022 they completed the construction of a 200,000 square feet state-of-the-art Manufacturing Center of Excellence located in Clifton, PA near the Pittsburgh International Airport.
At the opening of the facility, President and CEO Christopher Simon said, "Haemonetics has been part of the Pittsburgh area for more than 30 years, and our new, state of the art Clinton facility highlights the value we place in this region and the skilled team we've developed here. This facility also underscores Haemonetics' continued focus on operational excellence by investing in the resources we need to ramp up production with a quality-first mindset and deliver for our customers and the donors, patients, collection centers and hospitals counting on our solutions."
Haemonetics is currently hiring for roles across mechanical engineering, distribution, account management, and sales in the region. Find your next career move.
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AI Horizons Pittsburgh will take place in Bakery Square and Hazelwood Green on September 11-12, 2025.
Join the world’s leading researchers, innovators, and adopters as we explore how AI is transforming industries, infrastructure and society. There will be a track dedicated to leading companies and applications of AI in healthcare and the life sciences.
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Drawing 12,000+ attendings including nearly 3,000 CEOs, HLTH is the premier health innovation event.
We are teaming up with the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance to host an event that will showcase the region's clinical expertise and dynamic capabilities in AI and digital health to investors, health systems, and potential industry partners across the country.
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| | We are always looking for your input! If you have suggestions for newsletter content or spotlights, please contact Austin Price at aprice@pittsburghlifesci.org. | | | | |
