Overview
- Tim Andrews, 67, received a deceased-donor human kidney at Massachusetts General Hospital on Tuesday after previously living with a genetically modified pig kidney.
- He was discharged Friday and is recovering at home in New Hampshire, becoming the first known person to receive a pig kidney and later a human kidney.
- The pig kidney functioned for a record 271 days before slow rejection led to its removal in October and a return to dialysis.
- Biopsies and case data point to low-level rejection and irreversible filter damage, and researchers say those findings are helping them adjust suppression regimens.
- Mass General Brigham and eGenesis report FDA clearance for the first porcine-kidney clinical trial, enabling multi-center enrollment of more than 30 patients, while Andrews' current immunosuppression is about one-third of what he took with the pig graft.