Vicarious Surgical Announces Memorandum of Understanding Agreement with Pittsburgh CREATES to Advance System Design
Key Partnership Providing Further Support Toward Vicarious System Finalization, Regulatory Submission, and Commercialization Goals
November 7, 2022
WALTHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Vicarious Surgical Inc. (“Vicarious Surgical” or the “Company”), a next-generation robotics company seeking to improve the cost, efficiency, and outcomes of surgical procedures, today announced it has signed a collaborative Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) agreement with Pittsburgh CREATES, an innovation center that fosters collaborations between surgeons and healthcare professionals, with the academic and clinical resources of parent institutions, the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center). Through this collaboration, Vicarious Surgical will further augment its development efforts with a world-renowned university. Expansion beyond the previously announced Center of Excellence partnerships provides Vicarious Surgical additional and diverse exposure to clinical and operational robotic experts, as well as access to the advanced Center for Pre-Clinical Studies within the University of Pittsburgh. Further expertise in surgeon testing, training and regulatory trials will help to provide deeper academic and clinical insight and support as the Company continues to advance through development and finalization efforts of its Vicarious Surgical robotic solution with a focus on helping to address the needs of major US hospital systems holistically.
“We are thrilled to partner with Pittsburgh CREATES and have access to the academic expertise at the University of Pittsburgh and the medical expertise at UPMC, a leader in healthcare delivery and one of the top medical centers in the country,” said Adam Sachs, CEO and co-founder of Vicarious Surgical. “By formalizing our joint efforts, we establish additional critical strategic partners who can provide distinct insights into shaping our clinical strategy and the implementation of our system in a clinical research setting. We look forward to the work ahead as we seek to transform the standard in surgical robotics.”
“At Pittsburgh CREATES, we strive to be on the forefront of innovation, always looking for opportunities to enable our providers and better serve our patients,” said Dr. Umamaheswar Duvvuri, Founding Medical Director and Director of Robotic Surgery, Division of Head and Neck Surgery at UPMC. “We are excited to establish this partnership with Vicarious, providing us the unique opportunity to help direct the potential next generation in surgical robotics, effectively broadening our impact on patient care.”
About Pittsburgh CREATES
Pittsburgh CREATES is an industry-facing, medical innovation center that fosters collaborations between surgeons, healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, and innovators to deliver value-driven healthcare technology advances in the Pittsburgh region. The organization leverages the academic and clinical resources of its parent institutions, the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC, to drive development in surgical innovation, robotics, and adjacent technologies. The center seeks out unmet needs in this space by continually evolving and delivering high-value projects driven by physician leadership to stakeholders in three key areas: research, education, and technological enhancements in surgery. Learn more at www.pittsburghcreates.pitt.edu.
About the University of Pittsburgh
Founded in 1787, the University of Pittsburgh is an internationally renowned leader in health sciences learning and research. A top 10 recipient of NIH funding since 1998, Pitt has repeatedly been ranked as the best public university in the Northeast, per The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education. Pitt consists of a campus in Pittsburgh—home to 16 undergraduate, graduate and professional schools — and four regional campuses located throughout Western Pennsylvania. Pitt offers nearly 500 distinct degree programs; serves more than 33,000 students; employs more than 13,000 faculty and staff; and awards 9,000 degrees systemwide.
About Vicarious Surgical
Founded in 2014, Vicarious Surgical is a next generation robotics company developing a disruptive technology with the goals of increasing the efficiency of surgical procedures, improving patient outcomes, and reducing healthcare costs. The Company’s novel surgical approach uses proprietary human-like surgical robots to transport surgeons inside the patient to perform minimally invasive surgery. The Company is led by an experienced team of technologists, medical device professionals and physicians, and is backed by technology luminaries including Bill Gates, Vinod Khosla’s Khosla Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures, Sun Hung Kai & Co. Ltd and Philip Liang’s E15 VC. The Company is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Learn more at www.vicarioussurgical.com.
Contacts
Media Inquiries
Abby Mayo for Matter Health
media@vicarioussurgical.com
Investor Contact
Kaitlyn Brosco
Vicarious Surgical
Kbrosco@vicarioussurgical.com
Marissa Bych
Gilmartin Group
Marissa@gilmartinir.com
