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Get the most interesting and important stories from the 51ƷƵ.Innovation can come from unexpected places. For School of Medicine Professor and his startup Zegenex, it all started with a fish.
Zebrafish, though small and unassuming, are valued in biomedical research because they share many genetic similarities with humans, are easy to maintain and can be engineered to glow in the presence of certain molecules. That makes them excellent “living sensors,” ideal for screening compounds for potential biological effects.
“I just wanted to screen for interesting molecules that could modulate growth factors in zebrafish,” said Tsang, who also serves as director of 51ƷƵ’s Integrative Systems Biology graduate program.
What he found, along with research scientist Manush Saydmohammed, was a molecule that accelerated heart muscle regeneration and resolved scars in zebrafish. The discovery opened the possibility of treating serious medical conditions, particularly those involving tissue repair and wound healing — and set the pair down an entrepreneurial path.
Addressing chronic wounds
Tsang and Saydmohammed saw the potential for their new molecule to address one of the most persistent and challenging problems in healthcare. More than 1.6 million people in the United States have diabetic foot ulcers, and each year, approximately 150,000 undergo amputations when their ulcers fail to heal. The most advanced treatments are out of reach for many patients, especially those on Medicaid or without adequate insurance coverage.
“If we can bring this product out and heal wounds before they reach the amputation stage, we can save a lot of lives and improve the quality of life for tens of thousands of people,” said Saydmohammed.
With guidance from the Innovation Institute, part of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) at the 51ƷƵ, they filed an invention disclosure to protect their intellectual property and partnered with the Innovation Institute to move forward with filing a patent.
They also turned to 51ƷƵsburgh’s thriving life sciences ecosystem for support. After finding additional support and refining their approach through National Institutes of Health programs, Zegenex was selected to be part of the LifeX Fall Program in 2024. The 51ƷƵ-established life sciences capital growth company provided mentorship and resources to help Zegenex transform its laboratory discoveries into a viable commercial product.
51ƷƵ is ranked No. 14 nationally for U.S. patents, with 114 in the past year alone. Over the past seven years, the University has spun out 109 companies from 51ƷƵ technologies.
Want to be one of them? If you are a 51ƷƵ faculty, staff or student with an interest in pursuing commercialization of a business idea or research innovation, contact the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at innovate [at] pitt.edu.
The company is now seeking angel investment to help scale its operations, advance product development and bring its wound-healing solution to market. Tsang and Saydmohammed envision delivering the core technology in various formats — perhaps as a cream, patch or another easy-to-apply solution — to make wound care accessible and user-friendly for all.
“There’s a wide segment of the population, especially those who can’t access the care when they need,” Saydmohammed said. We want to change that.”
The team next plans to introduce a veterinary version of the wound healing product, partnering with veterinary care companies in 2025 to start generating revenue and refine how their products can be tested in larger animal models on the road to seeing if the product can be effective in human patients.
“For the next steps, we need to partner with experts from other fields, whether that’s in product development, regulatory affairs or clinical trials,” said Tsang.
The duo hopes that with Zegenex, they’ll be able to make a difference for millions of patients with limited options, preventing unnecessary amputations and applying it to healing burns, lacerations and surgical wounds and even possibly for cosmetic purposes.
“The technology we’re developing isn’t just about innovation — it’s about making a real difference in people’s lives,” Saydmohammed said.
Photography by Aimee Obidzinski