United Therapeutics Corp. opened its $110 million xenograft production facility, which will raise gene-edited pigs to provide transplant organs to humans, the Post Bulletin reported Sept. 1.
Here is what to know.
1. The 65,000-square-foot, “designated pathogen-free” facility will be named Thomas E. Starzl Xenograft Production Facility in honor of the man known as the father of organ transplantation. The facility, located in Stewartville, Minn., will have its own labs and veterinarian clinic, including two surgical units.
2. The facility has the capacity for 150 pigs and will be operated by about 25 people. Employees will wear protective suits while working with the animals and all equipment and products that enter the animal’s area will be sterilized.
3. United Therapeutics conducted the first successful pig-to-human heart transplant in 2022, a second heart transplant in 2023, and first pig-to-human kidney transplant in 2024.
4. The company is currently working with the FDA on xeno-organ clinical trials with the goal of having pig-to-human transplants approved by the agency by 2030.
5. In 2025, scientists expressed optimism at closing a persistent shortage of donor organs. More than 100,000 U.S. individuals are on a national transplant waiting list, and 12 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant, according to HHS data. Scientists say genetically modified organs, such as gene-edited pig kidneys, are showing increasing promise of reversing this trend. Recipients of pig kidneys have progressively survived and lived with them for months. Although all have returned to dialysis treatment, multiple clinical trials are underway to explore and expand the practice.
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