Vicarious Surgical, Pittsburgh CREATES Partner on Robotic Technology

Vicarious Surgical Inc. 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).

“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,” Vicarious Surgical Co-Founder/CEO Adam Sachs said. “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.”

Through this collaboration, Vicarious Surgical will further augment its development efforts with a 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.
 
“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.”
 
Pittsburgh CREATES is a 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.
 
Founded in 2014, Vicarious Surgical is a next-generation robotics company developing a disruptive technology intended to increase the efficiency of surgical procedures, improve patient outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs. The company’s surgical approach uses proprietary human-like surgical robots to transport surgeons inside the patient to perform minimally invasive surgery. The company 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. Vicarious Surgical is headquartered in Waltham, Mass.