An Alabama woman who received a gene-edited pig kidney transplant at NYU Langone in November is recovering well more than 60 days after the procedure.
On Nov. 25, a team of clinicians at the New York City-based health system successfully transplanted UKidney, a 10-gene-edited pig kidney into Towana Looney, 53. Ms. Looney was on a transplant waiting list for nearly eight years before physicians determined the probability of a safe human transplant was slim.
Now, Ms. Looney is the longest-living recipient of the four Americans who have received a gene-edited pig organ, having surpassed the two-month mark.
"If you saw her on the street, you would have no idea that she's the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside them that's functioning," Robert Montgomery, MD, PhD, director of NYU Langone's Transplant Institute, told the Associated Press in a Jan. 25 report at NBC News.
Unlike previous xenotransplant patients, Ms. Looney was in better overall health at the time of her transplant, leaving experts optimistic about the potential for broader success in the emerging field of xenotransplantation. Earlier cases involved individuals who were critically ill when they underwent the experimental procedures.
"We're quite optimistic that this is going to continue to work and work well for, you know, a significant period of time," said Dr. Montgomery, who led Ms. Looney's transplant procedure.
NYU Langone, leader in xenotransplantation, has completed seven human-pig organ transplants to date.
In 2023, Dr. Montgomery's team transplanted a pig kidney into a patient who was declared dead by neurologic criteria. The organ functioned properly for 61 days.
Insights from that case have helped guide Ms. Looney's care. For example, the team carefully watched for early signs of rejection, based on what they gathered from the deceased donor case. Ms. Looney was successfully treated for signs of rejection three weeks after the transplant. Since then, there have been no further signs of rejection.
Formal clinical trials of xenotransplantation are expected to begin this year.