Overview
- A 66-year-old patient received a gene-edited Yucatan pig kidney under an FDA expanded-access IND in January 2025 and lived without dialysis for 271 days while the graft functioned immediately and supported daily life.
- After roughly six months clinicians reduced immunosuppression for a bacterial infection and later documented progressive microvascular inflammation and endothelial injury that led to thrombotic microangiopathy and removal of the porcine graft.
- Eighty-two days after the xenograft was removed the patient received a deceased-donor human kidney in January 2026 and showed immediate, sustained function with no detectable sensitization during follow-up.
- Intensive monitoring found no evidence of porcine virus transmission in the patient, and researchers reported that the donor pig organ had multiple genetic edits intended to lower rejection and zoonotic risk.
- The authors and eGenesis say the case supports testing pig kidneys as a temporary bridge and are moving toward controlled trials, but regulators and clinicians emphasize the need to resolve failure mechanisms, optimize immunosuppression, and strengthen oversight before wider use.