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About LenDr. Pinchuk has 138 U.S. patents, over 100 publications and founded 10 companies. His major accomplishments include the invention of the Nylon 12 angioplasty balloon, the helical wire stent, the modular stent-graft, a drug-eluting stent (TAXUS®), several biomaterials (Bionate® and SIBS), a novel glaucoma tube (the InnFocus MicroShunt®) and the next generation intraocular lens.
His inventions are used in hundreds of millions of patients with a financial impact well over $100 billion. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2012, was awarded the 2017 Society for Biomaterials Innovation and Technology Award, San Antonio’s BIOMED SA Award (2017) and the National Academy of Engineering 2019 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize. Dr. Pinchuk received a B.Sc. in chemistry from McGill University (1976) and a Ph.D. interdisciplinary in Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Miami (1984) and an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from McGill University in 2005. Dr. Pinchuk co-founded Corvita Corporation (1987) which went public in 1994, was acquired by Pfizer, Inc. (1996) and then sold to Boston Scientific (1998). He then founded Innovia LLC (2002), which spun-out InnFocus, Inc. (2004) which was acquired by Santen Pharmaceuticals in 2016. Dr. Pinchuk also enjoys an appointment as Distinguished Research Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Miami. View all patents | View all publications |
Background and Accomplishments |
Dr. Pinchuk is a serial inventor and entrepreneur with 138 issued U.S. Patents and more than 100 publications and is a founder of 10 companies. He was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. He received a BSc in Chemistry, with a focus on organic and polymer chemistry, from McGill University in 1976. He began his graduate education at the University of Miami in 1977 and earned a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering, and in 1984, a Ph.D. degree, Interdisciplinary in Engineering and Chemistry. The Interdisciplinary background enabled his work in a very unique niche aspect of the field in which he synthesized and manipulated polymers to create novel medical devices that have dominated cardiology and ophthalmology.
Len co-founded Corvita Corporation (Miami, FL) in 1987 where he patented a very specific ring-opening polyamide called Nylon 12 for use as the balloon on angioplasty catheters; soon thereafter, Cordis Corporation (Miami Lakes, FL), purchased these patents and the Corvita and Cordis engineering teams developed a process called double-stretch blow molding to optimize the properties of these balloons. These Nylon 12 balloon catheters have dominated interventional radiology and cardiology since the late 1980’s and are used for angioplasty, stent deployment, drug-coated balloon angioplasty, the cutting balloon, valve dilation, valve deployment and many other dilating and delivery applications. In 1987 Len patented and sold to Cordis an undulating wire stent which became known as the Cross-Flex stent. Cordis abandoned Cross-Flex when Cordis was acquired by Johnson and Johnson, where they introduced the relatively rigid Palmaz-Schatz stent. Ironically, the undulating wire stent, now sold by Medtronic (Minneapolis Mn), has become the most coveted stent in the world due to its flexibility and maneuverability. In the late 1980’s, Len patented the polycarbonate urethanes (PCU) for use in medicine. These polymers are now marketed as Bionate® and sold worldwide by Covestro, a spin off from Bayer AG (Heidelberg Germany); they are used for neurostimulation, vascular access, artificial heart, cardiac assist, pacer lead insulators and diagnostic devices. Due to the exceptional load-bearing capability of Bionate, it is also used extensively in orthopedic applications such as hip and knee joints, spinal motion preservation devices and is now being tested in the clinic as an artificial meniscus. In the early 1990’s, Dr. Pinchuk and his Corvita team bonded a porous PCU sleeve to a self-expanding stent comprised of braided cobalt-chromium-nickel wire to form an endoluminal graft, also called a stent-graft. These devices are loaded into catheters and maneuvered through arteries to the diseased area (aneurysm, dissection or stenoses) where they are deployed to effectively reline the diseased area. Corvita pioneered the field of stent-grafting, leading to the development of many life-saving stent-graft designs by various companies with millions implanted since inception. In 1996, Dr. Pinchuk patented for medical applications the all-aliphatic triblock polymer called poly(styrene-block-isobutylene-block-styrene) or “SIBS.” SIBS was first used in Boston Scientific’s (Natick, MA) Taxus® drug-eluting coronary stent which dominated cardiology and has saved or improved the lives of tens of millions of patients worldwide. Taxus was the largest product launch in the history of medical devices with sales of $3 billion in first year sales alone. In 2003, Dr. Pinchuk founded InnFocus, Inc. to develop, with his colleagues at the University of Miami’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, a SIBS micro-tube that treats glaucoma. Serving as a flow resistor to shunt aqueous humor from the anterior chamber of the eye to the natural space between the conjunctiva and sclera, the tube effectively drops intraocular pressure and stops the progression of vision loss from glaucoma. This device is changing the treatment paradigm for advanced glaucoma worldwide. Dr. Pinchuk has invented or significantly contributed to many other products that are in various stages of development and commercialization, including among others: (1) the next generation intraocular lens material that stops halos, glistenings and clouding over time (clinical trials of this lens completed in China (Oct. 2022); (2) a unique catheter that delivers immunotherapeutic drugs to the liver and pancreas to eliminate cancer tumors (TriSalus, Denver CO); (3) a novel urinary drainage catheter that prevents pull-out injuries (InnoCare Urologics, Miami FL); (4) crosslinked SIBS-based heart valves for transaortic valve replacement (PolyNova, NY); and (5) polyisobutylene-based materials for load-bearing, long implant duration applications destined for orthopedic applications (InnoPedics, FL). Dr. Pinchuk was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2012. With four interventional cardiologists, Len shared the National Academy of Engineering’s 2019 Fritz and Delores Russ Prize, the world’s highest bioengineering prize, “for innovations leading to the widespread adoption of percutaneous coronary angioplasty (now called, ‘PCI’).” Dr. Pinchuk’s inventions have been used in over a billion patients worldwide with a financial impact of well over $100 billion and have led to the employment of tens of thousands of highly skilled workers worldwide. View complete list of patents. |
Honors and Awards |
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Education |
Dr. Pinchuk received a B.Sc. in chemistry from McGill University in 1976, a Ph.D. Interdisciplinary in Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Miami in 1984.
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