SALT LAKE CITY, United States — Research at the University of Utah is moving innovation beyond the laboratory and into treatments, companies and technologies with potential to affect patients around the world. The university’s growing innovation efforts include research that contributed to the development of lenacapavir, a long-acting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-prevention drug approved by the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration in 2025. The drug exemplifies how research conducted at the university can eventually contribute to medical advances beyond Utah. Wesley Sundquist, a University of Utah researcher, spent years studying the structure of HIV and the virus’s capsid or protein shell. His research helped scientists understand how the virus functions and contributed to the scientific foundation behind lenacapavir. Gilead Sciences later developed the drug based on that foundation.
Clinical Trials and Impact
In clinical trials in South Africa and Uganda, more than 2,000 women received lenacapavir, and none contracted HIV during the study. The drug is administered as an injection twice a year, providing an alternative to daily HIV-prevention medication. The potential impact is significant. About 1.3 million people worldwide contract HIV each year, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Innovation and Partnerships
James Hotaling, chief innovation officer for University of Utah Health, aims to help move discoveries from research into applications that can benefit patients. Hotaling focuses on bringing innovation into the health system, developing partnerships and identifying ways new technologies can be used in healthcare. He also works with commercial partners and researchers to help move promising ideas toward practical applications. “The goal is to figure out how to use new technologies and commercial partnerships to innovate the health system,” Hotaling said. The university’s research enterprise has produced hundreds of potential innovations. In fiscal year 2025, University of Utah researchers submitted 530 invention disclosures, according to the university’s Technology Licensing Office. Researchers also received 43 U.S. patents.
Technology Transfer Success
The university ranked among the top five U.S. research universities in several technology-transfer categories, including invention disclosures, U.S. patents issued and licensing activity. The university also launched six startups in 2025. The companies were created around research involving areas such as therapeutics, kidney disease, robotic surgery, scientific research tools and air-quality forecasting. These numbers reflect an effort to move research beyond the university rather than keeping discoveries within academic journals or laboratories.
History of Medical Breakthroughs
Innovation at the university builds on a history of medical breakthroughs. In 1982, University of Utah physicians performed the world’s first permanent artificial-heart implantation in a human. University researchers developed the Jarvik-7 artificial heart through years of research, and it became a landmark achievement in cardiovascular medicine. The artificial heart is an example of the lengthy process required for university research to become a medical technology. Research began years before physicians implanted the device in a patient, requiring scientific development, testing and collaboration.
Continued Research Efforts
Hotaling continues that work through his own research and entrepreneurial efforts. He has founded companies focused on medical research, including work involving male infertility. Male infertility affects men around the world, but there is currently no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug that cures male infertility. Hotaling’s research seeks to develop new approaches for patients who have limited treatment options.
One area of research involves developing ways to grow sperm outside the body. The technology could eventually provide new options for men who cannot produce viable sperm and are unable to have biological children through existing treatments. For Hotaling, innovation is not limited to creating a new technology. It also involves creating partnerships and finding ways to move an idea from research into the healthcare system. That process can take years. Researchers must often work with clinicians, entrepreneurs, companies and investors before a discovery can become a treatment or commercial product.
Supportive Innovation Ecosystem
The university’s broader innovation ecosystem is designed to support that process across campus. Research Park, the Health Sciences campus, engineering programs and other university resources provide opportunities for researchers to collaborate and commercialize their work. Utah’s broader innovation environment has helped support the university’s efforts. The state ranks first nationally for innovation capacity and outcomes, while the University of Utah has received national recognition for entrepreneurship.
A Stanford University study ranked the university second in the nation for producing founders of unicorn startups. Unicorns are privately held startups valued at more than $1 billion. But Hotaling said innovation is ultimately about the impact of the work rather than who receives recognition. “You will do great things if you do not care who gets the credit,” Hotaling said. That philosophy reflects the collaborative nature of research at the university. A discovery may begin with one researcher, but turning it into something that can reach patients often requires collaboration across multiple fields and organizations. Lenacapavir illustrates that process. Research conducted at the University of Utah helped scientists better understand HIV, and that knowledge eventually contributed to a drug that could help prevent new infections.
For the university, the measure of innovation extends beyond patents and startups. The larger goal is to translate research into technologies and treatments that can address problems affecting people in Utah and around the world. As the University of Utah continues expanding its research and commercialization efforts, its challenge will be turning more discoveries into solutions that reach beyond campus. For Hotaling, that means creating an environment where researchers can pursue difficult problems, work with partners and ultimately move their ideas into the hands of people who need them.
– Isabella Pedroza
Isabella is based in Salt Lake City, UT, USA and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.
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