While the biotech sector continues to send mixed signals, the energy and momentum of the Pittsburgh ecosystem is up and to the right with particular headiness coming from the increasingly important intersection of AI and life sciences. Read about key initiatives and engagements over the past two months below. | | |
Senator McCormick Engages with
SW PA Life Sciences Leaders
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In late July, Senator David McCormick joined the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Alliance, our board, and company CEOs and senior executives in life sciences and healthcare technology to discuss the sector’s critical role in regional economic vitality and growth. Smith + Nephew graciously hosted the event at their state-of-the-art global surgical robotics R+D center on Robotics Row.
We’re grateful to Senator McCormick for engaging directly with our ecosystem and for recognizing the strategic importance of life sciences innovation in the Pittsburgh region and beyond. During the meeting, the Senator shared that he sees life sciences and healthcare technology as critical growth areas for the Commonwealth and is a committed partner for realizing the sector’s full potential. He even got to do some brief hands-on training in using the latest AI and robotics powered tech for orthopedic knee replacement.
| | On Sept 11th and 12th, executives from traditional business powers like BNY and Westinghouse, as well as founders from category leading growth companies like Abridge and Gecko Robotics, came together in Pittsburgh to discuss how to capitalize on the region’s leading AI capabilities to power economic growth. | | PLSA served on the steering committee for the conference and helped curate panel discussions with concrete examples where AI is transforming healthcare, revolutionizing life sciences and drug discovery, and pushing biotech to the forefront of national and economic security considerations. | | |
🧪 AI in Medicine - Accelerating Discovery and Cures
There is a lot of excitement, a lot of noise, and a lot of questions about what AI can truly do to accelerate drug discovery - but the truth is - biology is still very hard. In a panel moderated by venture investor and industry expert Milind Kamkolkar, Jonathan Steckbeck of Peptilogics, Hooman Rashidi of the University of Pittsburgh, and Molly Johnson of Avista Therapeutics sorted through real world use cases where they are using AI to accelerate their clinical pipelines and enhance business models.
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🌎 Discovery to Defense: AI and Biomanufacturing at the Frontline
With the convergence of AI and biotechnology, it is now possible to accomplish in days the depth of discovery that used to take years. This unprecedented pace brings the promise of transformative innovation across all industries, from healthcare to agriculture, and energy to defense. Michael Paglia of ElevateBio, Brennan Sellner of BioForge, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham of CMU, and Steven Moss of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotech discussed what needs to be done to ensure scalable biomanufacturing solutions keep pace with science, as well as the need to increase our domestic capacity to move new innovative ideas from discovery to commercialization.
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Resiliency in the Life Sciences
In late August, over 120 members of the local life sciences community came together to network, exchange experiences, and build the social fabric that is critical in any successful innovation sector during our event hosted at The Assembly, in collaboration with Wexford Science and Technology.
| Seasoned life sciences executives, Betty Woo, Paul Seltman, and Michael Bozik reflected on the current state of the sector and strategies they are deploying to ride out tumultuous trade policy and variable demand. | | |
Touring Bayer’s Saxonburg facility with Congressman Kelly
Bayer employs around 1,400 people in southwestern Pennsylvania. Products made in the region are used in over 95% of U.S hospitals and support imaging procedures for more than 60 million patients globally each year.
| In August, PLSA joined Bayer at their Saxonburg facility for a discussion with Congressman Mike Kelly and a tour of their manufacturing operations. | | |
Visiting Revvity Omics state-of-the-art facility
PLSA CEO Megan Shaw and Community Manager Jenn Rick visited the facility that produces many of the world’s leading genomic tests for newborn screening - right here in southwestern Pennsylvania.
| | Senior Lab Manager, Kristina Fura, gives PLSA a tour of Revvity Omics USA’s CAP-CLIA-accredited, state-of-the-art laboratory located near the Pittsburgh airport | | |
Agentic AI powered by 120/80 Group
Two Pittsburgh thought leaders took to the stage during an intimate, high-powered event in New York on September 16th. The event featured former FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf alongside senior executives from global pharmaceutical giants, financial titans, and leading law firms specializing in biotech and intellectual property.
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Welcome Kate
Kate Nielsen joined PLSA this quarter as our new Industry Workforce Consultant. Kate brings 15 years of experience in strategic workforce planning and operations at the Department of Energy. Her experience in a highly technical human capital environment will bring immense value as we work to understand current employment needs in the sector and develop a strategy to enable further growth.
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One of Our Own - Women in Bio Boardroom Ready
PLSA CEO and President Megan Shaw was selected to the highly-competitive, national cohort of Women in Bio’s 2025 Boardroom Ready Cohort. The selection is a reflection of Megan’s leadership fostering partnerships at the intersection of AI, biology, and clinical innovation and her 20-year track record of impact in strategy development, early-stage investing, and growth. Her participation in the program will help Megan bring the Pittsburgh human health innovation story to important audiences across the country.
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PECA Labs, Inc., founded in 2012 as a spin-out of Carnegie Mellon University and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, is a fast-growing medical device company transforming the field of cardiovascular surgery through its proprietary polymeric platform and novel design approach. Built on years of interdisciplinary research and a mission to improve the lives of patients with congenital and acquired heart disease, PECA Labs is developing durable, ethical, and customizable implantable devices that address some of the biggest challenges in cardiovascular care today.
The company’s flagship commercial product is the exGraft, a first-of-its-kind synthetic vascular graft engineered on PECA’s proprietary polymer processing platform. Unlike traditional grafts, the exGraft can be permanently expanded post-operatively, giving it the unique ability to adapt over time to a patient’s physiology. In pediatric populations, this allows the graft to increase in diameter as the child grows, potentially sparing families from repeated invasive and costly replacement surgeries. In adults, the capability helps mitigate narrowing and restenosis, reducing the long-term burden of cardiovascular disease. Surgeons also benefit from pre-operative controlled dilation, which enables tailoring to unique anatomies, and from the ability to expand the graft in the catheter lab with a balloon, offering treatment flexibility even in facilities without full pediatric cardiothoracic resources.
The impact on patients and their families is profound: children may avoid multiple open-heart procedures, adults gain improved outcomes, and care teams have access to a more versatile, durable solution. This real-world benefit underscores the importance of PECA Labs’ approach—combining cutting-edge polymer science with a patient-centered mission.
Looking ahead, the company continues to build momentum with its pipeline. In 2023, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia became the first center worldwide to implant PECA’s MASA Valve, a fully synthetic pulmonary valved conduit now under clinical evaluation. Early results are promising, reinforcing PECA’s ability to deliver transformative products that address both pediatric and adult cardiovascular needs.
Backed by strong clinical partnerships, a growing body of evidence, and increasing demand for its vascular graft device, PECA Labs has experienced rapid revenue growth and significant team expansion. With its scalable in-house polymeric processing facility and a differentiated technology platform, the company is positioned not only as a commercial success today but also as a long-term leader in the future of cardiovascular innovation.
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Revvity, Inc. (NYSE RVTY) is an 11,000 employee life sciences and diagnostics company with a market cap of approximately $10 billion and develops a wide range of technologies used throughout the drug discovery and development process, and well as a suite of diagnostic instruments, software, and other products used by hospitals, medical labs, and clinicians.
The Revvity Omics division, the global leader in genomic testing focused on rare inherited diseases, newborn screening, and hereditary cancers, has a long history with the Southwest PA region.
Today the company employs 75 people in greater Pittsburgh, many of whom work in the CAP-CLIA-accredited state-of-the-art Revvity Omics USA laboratory located near the Pittsburgh airport. That operation plays a large role in the company’s category leadership in the full continuum of care from preconception and prenatal to neonatal, pediatrics, and adult genomic testing for rare inherited diseases.
Like several publicly traded and multinational companies with significant operations in the region, Revvity’s connection can be traced back to the intersection of clinical excellence, top-drawer life sciences research, and entrepreneurialism that exists here.
A Brief History of Neonatal Screening and Revvity in the Region
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1994 Dr. Edwin W. Naylor founded Neo Gen Screening Inc. in Bridgeville, PA
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2003 Neo Gen Screening was acquired by Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc., and changed its name to Pediatrix Screening
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2008 PerkinElmer, Inc. completed its acquisition of the newborn metabolic screening business of Pediatrix Medical Group
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2023 PerkinElmer’s Life Sciences and Diagnostics businesses established a new name and branding. Revvity launched as a scientific solutions company powering innovation from discovery to cure. It maintains a significant presence in the Pittsburgh region with its Revvity Omics USA state-of-the-art laboratory which is CAP CLIA-accredited, located near Pittsburgh airport.
| | HLTH brings together over 12,000 attendees from the world’s leading healthcare and health technology companies - and we will be there carrying the Pittsburgh flag. Our curated luncheon in collaboration with Abridge, Highmark Health, and UPMC Enterprises will show how this ecosystem is helping start-ups grow and scale in the health sector. If you are going to be there - email aprice@pittsburghlifesci.org. | | |
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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. | | | | |
