US doctors perform the first kidney transplant from a pig to a human.
21st March (Reuters) – The first patient to receive a replacement kidney from a genetically modified pig was a 62-year-old man with end-stage renal illness, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston revealed on Thursday.
According to a statement from the hospital, the four-hour procedure on March 16 “marks a major milestone in the quest to provide more readily available organs to patients.”
According to the hospital, Richard Slayman of Weymouth, Massachusetts, is making a full recovery and should be released shortly.
The long-term effects of the innovative animal-to-human transplant are of great importance to experts, according to Dr. Jim Kim, director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at the University of Southern California Transplantation Hospital in the city of Los Angeles.
After seven years of being on dialysis, Slayman underwent a human kidney transplant at the same hospital in 2018. However, the organ failed after five years, so he had to start receiving dialysis again.
The kidney that was donated came from a pig that had undergone genetic editing to delete genes that would be dangerous for a human recipient and add some human genes to increase compatibility. The donor was eGenesis of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Additionally, the business deactivated pig-born pathogens that may infect people.
Researchers announced opens new tab in October in the journal Nature that kidneys from genetically modified pigs produced by eGenesis had been successfully transplanted into monkeys that were kept alive for an average of 176 days, and in one case for more than two years. Among the medications used to assist stop the patient’s immune system from rejecting the pig organ was tegoprubart, an investigational antibody created by Eledon Pharmaceuticals (ELDN.O), opens new tab.
Dr. Robert Montgomery, head of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, who was not involved in the case, said that the surgery represents a significant advancement in xenotransplantation, or the transfer of organs or tissues from one species to another. The industry “is marching closer to becoming an alternative source of organs for the many hundreds of thousands suffering from kidney failure,” according to an email he sent.
Over 100,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant, with kidneys being the most in need, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
Surgeons at NYU had previously given brain-dead patients kidney transplants from pigs.
Regarding gene editing and pharmaceuticals, Montgomery stated that transplant centers are using various strategies. “Another big step will be when the FDA authorizes clinical trials so we may better understand what will work best for patients on our waiting lists,” she continued.
A 57-year-old gentleman with fatal cardiac disease had a genetically modified pig heart transplant in January 2022 from a University of Maryland team; nevertheless, the man passed away two months later.