US launches kidney transplantation clinical trials from pigs to humans

The “green light” to start kidney clinical trials from pigs to humans took two companies on Tuesday (04.02.2025). Hopes are born that it will help to cover the almost permanent organ shortage. U.S. health authorities allowed two companies to initiate clinical trials on kidney transplantation from pigs to humans, xenotransplantation, as is called tissue or organ transplantation from animals to humans, a process still in the experimental stage. CORVERSE The goal is to address the lack of organs, especially in the US, where more than 100,000 patients are on the list waiting for a graft – more than 90,000 expect a compatible kidney to be found. United Therapy and eGenesis, two American companies, are trying to develop genetically modified pig organs, which will be able to transplant into humans and state that they were granted permission to start clinical trials. This event “represents an important step in our mission, whose aim is to increase the availability of instruments,” said Lee Peterson, a high-ranking United Therapy executive. Since 2021 the two companies have advanced to many experimental xenotransplants in patients who were clinically dead or in very severe condition. CORVERSE In November, Towana Luney, a Alabama patient for whom a compatible donor could not be found while her health condition deteriorated, received a pig kidney from United Therapytics. In late January, the 50-year-old woman became the first man in the world to survive for two months after the alien transplantation. Her condition is good, she was assured today by a hospital representative where the surgery took place. United Therapy has announced that it will proceed to a clinical trial, initially with six end-stage renal failure patients and may extend it to 50 people. The first xenotransplant will take place in the middle of the year, he clarified. The eGenesis competitor will begin the trial with three patients who have little chance of finding a compatible donor.