New 'Product Pipeline' Directory Showcases 72 Products Based on U.Va. Discoveries

University of Virginia Innovation, a University initiative focused on maximizing the impact of U.Va. research discoveries, today unveiled a directory featuring 72 products based on University research.

The "product pipeline" details where these products stand in the development and commercialization process and includes business and consumer products, computer software, medical devices and diagnostics, and therapeutics at various stages of development. Approximately 40 of the products are currently available on the market.

"It's clear from the pipeline that U.Va. researchers are doing incredibly innovative work with applications in a variety of commercial markets," said Michael P. Straightiff, director of the Licensing & Ventures Group. "We look forward to continuing to work with our partners to drive these products – and future collaborations – ahead."

Part of the U.Va. Innovation initiative, the U.Va. Licensing & Ventures Group commercializes University research discoveries through partnerships with industry and entrepreneurial ventures.

"It's important for universities to cultivate a strong pipeline of discoveries, as commercial success for these products can lead to societal benefits, economic development and reinvestment in tomorrow's research breakthroughs," said U.Va. alumnus Robert Paull, co-founder and managing partner of New York-based venture capital firm Lux Capital. "U.Va.'s pipeline is growing increasingly more impressive in both depth and breadth, featuring a large quantity of products with substantial commercial applications."

Considered to be the University's most successful product to date, Adenocard is an injectable drug used to treat cardiac arrhythmia. Developed in 1985 by the late Dr. Robert M. Berne, Adenocard is today found in emergency rooms and ambulances nationwide, with total sales generating approximately $45 million in revenues to U.Va. and the inventors.

Another product family with U.Va. roots has emerged as the standard for accurate mass and high-resolution measurement in mass spectrometry, a technique used to identify molecules within a sample. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'s breakthrough Orbitrap technology and several other key products are based on the research of chemist and University Professor Donald F. Hunt and collaborators.

"Don focuses on finding answers to important biological questions, and this drives us to develop innovative tools," said Iain Mylchreest, vice president of research and development for chromatography and mass spectrometry at Thermo Fisher Scientific, a leading provider of analytical instrumentation and lab equipment worldwide. "The resulting techniques benefit broad segments of the life science research community."

View the product pipeline on U.Va. Innovation's website here.