Kidney transplant patients are embracing a new chapter of life, thanks to a groundbreaking clinical trial that eliminates the need for a lifelong regimen of anti-rejection drugs, which can cause serious side effects.
Along with their new kidney, each recipient received blood stem cells from their living donor. These stem cells were injected into the recipient several days after organ transplantation and took up residence in bone marrow. There, they divided and multiplied into immune cells that share the genes of the donated organ, thereby achieving a dual-immune system. The treatment goal is to keep the recipient’s immune system from attacking the new organ, which it would otherwise recognize as a threat. The international research team led by UW School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Surgery professor Dr. Dixon Kaufman, who directs the UW Health Transplant Center, shared the trial’s results in the July issue of the American Journal of Transplantation. Kaufman described the trial’s results as “immensely gratifying” and a testament to the value of long-term investments in research.
The research that supported this clinical trial occurred over 12 years, first in non-human primates before human trials, with more than $20 million in funding provided by the National Institutes of Health over that period (U01AI102456, MSN150727, T32AI25231, U54). The Phase 3 clinical trial was sponsored by Medeor Therapeutics (MDR-101) in association with Stanford University.
