First pig-to-human kidney transplant performed in Boston
A 62-year-man with end-stage renal disease has become the first human to receive a new kidney from a genetically modified pig, doctors from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston announced on Thursday.
The
four-hour surgery, performed on March 16, “marks a major milestone in
the quest to provide more readily available organs to patients,” the
hospital said in a statement.
The
patient, Richard Slayman of Weymouth, Massachusetts, is recovering well
and expected to be discharged soon, the hospital said.
Slayman
had received a transplant of a human kidney at the same hospital in
2018 after seven years on dialysis, but the organ failed after five
years and he had resumed dialysis treatments.
The
kidney was provided by eGenesis of Cambridge, Massachusetts from a pig
that had been genetically edited to remove genes that could be harmful
to a human recipient and add certain human genes to improve
compatibility. In addition, the company inactivated certain viruses
inherent to pigs that have the potential to infect humans.
Kidneys from similarly edited pigs raised by eGenesis had successfully
been transplanted into monkeys that were kept alive for an average of
176 days, and in one case for more than two years, researchers reported in October in the journal Nature.
Drugs
used to help prevent rejection of the pig organ by the patient's immune
system included an experimental antibody therapy called tegoprubart,
developed by Eledon Pharmaceuticals (ELDN.O)
The
pig kidney procedure moves the field of xenotransplantation – the
transplanting of organs or tissues from one species to another – closer
to becoming a potential solution to the worldwide organ shortage.
According
to the United Network for Organ Sharing, more than 100,000 people in
the U.S. await an organ for transplant, with kidneys in the greatest
demand.
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