US Surgeons Perform the First Pig-to-Human Kidney Transplant

A 62-year-old male with end-stage renal disease became the first human to receive a new kidney from a genetically modified pig.
The surgery performed on March 16, 2024, took four hours and is a major milestone in the search to make organs more readily available to patients.
The hospital said the patient is recovering well and expected to be discharged soon.
The patient received a human kidney transplant at the same hospital in 2018 after seven years of dialysis, but the organ failed after five years, and he resumed dialysis treatments.
The pig kidney provided by eGenesis of Cambridge, Massachusetts, had been genetically edited to remove genes harmful to a human recipient and add certain human genes to improve compatibility.
The company also inactivated viruses inherent to pigs that could infect humans.
Drugs used to help prevent rejection of the pig organ by the patient's immune system included an experimental antibody called tegoprubart developed by Eledon Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, said the surgery marks progress in xenotransplantation (the transplanting of organs or tissues from one species to another).

Source: Heathworld

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