The longest-living recipient of a genetically engineered pig kidney has had the organ removed after experiencing acute organ rejection, surgeons at New York City-based NYU Langone told The New York Times.
Towana Looney, a woman from Alabama, had lived with the gene-edited pig kidney for 130 days. She lived with the organ longer than any other transplant patient has tolerated a gene-edited animal organ. Ms. Looney underwent the transplant procedure in November after nearly eight years on the transplant waiting list.
Surgeons removed the organ April 4 after she began showing signs of acute organ rejection. Robert Montgomery, MD, director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, told the Times that the organ may have been salvaged with further treatment, though Ms. Looney and her medical team decided against it. Ms. Looney has resumed dialysis.
“Though the outcome is not what anyone wanted, I know a lot was learned from my 130 days with a pig kidney — and that this can help and inspire many others in their journey to overcome kidney disease,” she said in a statement. “For the first time since 2016, I enjoyed time with friends and family without planning around dialysis treatment.”
While the field of xenotransplantation is still in its infancy, experts in transplant medicine have said the process improves with each case and remain optimistic about the potential for pig organs to address the shortage of donated organs.
“This is the longest one of these organs has lasted,” Dr. Montgomery said. “All this takes time … This game is going to be won by incremental improvements, singles and doubles, not trying to swing for the fences and get a home run.”
United Therapeutics, the company that made the 10 gene-edited pig kidney for Ms. Looney’s surgery, plans to begin a clinical trial of pig-kidney transplantation this year.
