Does Iowa have a link to the first successful pig-to-human kidney transplant?

Des Moines Register
·1 min read

Could the pig kidney transplanted into a man at a Masschusetts hospital on March 16 ― a first ― have an Iowa tie?

The company that produced the genetically modified pig from which the kidney was taken, eGenesis, would only say at Thursday's announcement of the successful surgery that the organ had come from "the Midwest."

But Iowa played a role in one of the most important tests leading to the transplant. Revivicor of Blacksburg, Virginia, another company in the field of xenotransplantation ― the transplantation of animal organs to humans ― provided a pig kidney that, in a fall 2021 experiment at NYU Langone Health, was linked to a brain-dead woman whose body was kept functioning on a ventilator. The kidney functioned and produced urine, showing such a transplant would be feasible.

Dr. Robert Montgomery, the Leon H. Pachter, MD, Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at NYU Langone and director of its Transplant Institute, performs the first xenotransplantation of a genetically engineered nonhuman organ to a human at NYU Langone Health.
Dr. Robert Montgomery, the Leon H. Pachter, MD, Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at NYU Langone and director of its Transplant Institute, performs the first xenotransplantation of a genetically engineered nonhuman organ to a human at NYU Langone Health.

The Associated Press reported that Revivicor had raised the pig from which the kidney was taken, part of a herd of 100, at a secure facility in Iowa. Progressive Farmer previously had reported that Revivicor had established the Iowa facility, though for security reasons, the company would not say specifically where in the state.

Medical news website Stat in January 2021 reported that eGenesis "has secured an established biosecure animal facility in the Midwest from which it intends to supply pig organs — likely starting with the kidney — for human trials."

If such transplants become routine, as the companies hope, it would be no surprise to see Iowa become a source for the pigs used. As the nation's largest producer of pork, it already has abundant expertise in raising pigs.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Did Iowa play a role in first pig-to-human kidney transplant?