{"id":248949,"date":"2026-08-19T07:15:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T11:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=248949"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T18:02:09","slug":"uconn-startup-acquired-by-leading-animal-health-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/08\/uconn-startup-acquired-by-leading-animal-health-company\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Startup Acquired by Leading Animal Health Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

A startup founded by UConn mechanical engineering professor Thanh Nguyen has been acquired by PetVivo Holdings, a veterinary biotech and biomedical device company which focuses on osteoarthritis in dogs and horses.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nguyen founded PiezoBioMembrane (PBM) in 2021 to develop new implementation methods for his work with piezoelectric materials, which can convert mechanical force into electrical energy. Usually, these materials are ceramics \u2013 hard, brittle, and not conducive to medical use. But Nguyen\u2019s lab has developed new forms that are soft, flexible, and biodegradable, breaking down naturally within the body over time. <\/span><\/p>\n

These new materials have shown great potential in numerous medical applications, including wound healing<\/a>, tissue regeneration<\/a>, implanted force sensors<\/a>,\u00a0and biodegradable ultrasound<\/a> for drug delivery to\u00a0treat tumors.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
Thanh Nguyen is a professor of mechanical engineering in UConn\u2019s College of Engineering. (Courtesy of Thanh Nguyen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the case of arthritis, Nguyen explains, the piezoelectric materials are used as an off-the-shelf product which can be implanted or injected directly into the ailing joint — no drugs, chemicals, or cells required. The daily force that is exerted on the joint then generates a small electrical charge, which helps regrow healthy cartilage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The process mimics the body\u2019s natural use of electricity to regenerate tissue.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe body can be electrically stimulated to regrow,\u201d Nguyen says. And PBM\u2019s materials \u201cact like a battery \u2013 an everlasting battery that works whenever there is a force applied, and vanishes safely inside the body over time.”<\/span><\/p>\n

PetVivo Holdings CEO John Lai expressed enthusiasm for this merger\u2019s potential to help improve the lives of companion animals globally.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPBM has developed a compelling functional biomaterials platform with the potential to support the development of multiple medical device and therapeutic product lines across both human and animal health markets,\u201d Lai said in a <\/span>press release<\/span><\/a>. \u201cBy combining PBM’s scientific innovation with PetVivo’s product development capabilities, commercialization experience, regulatory expertise, and public company infrastructure, we believe we can accelerate the advancement of technologies that may serve as the foundation for numerous future products and strategic opportunities.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For his part, Nguyen is excited about the opportunity to scale the technology he developed, making a difference for both pets and (eventually) people.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPetVivo is an animal health company, but they do have a big passion: pushing the technology towards clinical trials for human use,\u201d says Nguyen. \u201cThat aligned perfectly with my passion for developing technology that has an impact on human life. That is why I am excited on this merger which facilities my passion.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nguyen\u2019s research lives at the intersection of medicine, micro\/nanotechnology, and biomaterials. His pioneering inventions have earned him publications in prominent scientific journals, as well as media coverage by the likes of <\/span>NPR<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He founded PBM during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he realized the material he had developed could be used to create an <\/span>especially effective<\/span><\/a>, biodegradable face mask. The mechanical force from someone breathing in through the mask generated an electrical charge that provided an extra shield against viruses.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nguyen is no stranger to startup success. His other venture, <\/span>Single-Time Microneedles (STM)<\/span><\/a>, is also currently in the acquisition process. STM has pioneered technologies for <\/span>shelf-stable, efficient vaccine delivery<\/span><\/a> in the form of an adhesive patch.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nguyen\u2019s focus on developing unique biodegradable materials has lent itself to astonishingly diverse medical applications. He has been awarded\u00a0<\/span>five coveted R01 grants<\/span><\/a> from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support his research in cartilage regeneration; bone regeneration; HIV antibody delivery systems; and biodegradable ultrasound technology to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy for brain cancer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever we are working on, we want to show that it works very well in vitro and in vivo,\u201d Nguyen says. \u201cThen, when we are at the point of commercialization, we set up a startup or license the technology \u2013 or maybe team up with an industry partner.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New materials offer promising arthritis treatment for dogs and horses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":248951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2708,1866,1731,2460,2648,2076,2364,2235],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2413],"class_list":["post-248949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biotech","category-engr","category-entrepreneurship","category-faculty","category-blue-research","category-research","category-technology-commercialization","category-today-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-25 11:03:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248949"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251431,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248949\/revisions\/251431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/248951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248949"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=248949"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=248949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}