Towana Looney, a 53-year-old American from Alabama, has become the third living person in the world to benefit from a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig. Operated at the end of November at NYU Langone Hospital in New York, a pioneer in this field, the patient shared her experience on Tuesday during a press conference, saying she was “over the moon” to have received this unique opportunity: “I am lucky to have received this gift, a second chance in life. »
Towana Looney had been living on dialysis for eight years after her only kidney was damaged following a pregnancy complication. She had previously donated a kidney to her mother in 1999. Registered on the waiting list for a transplant since 2017, she could not find a compatible donor while her health deteriorated.
A genetically modified pig kidney
Faced with this emergency, doctors authorized the transplantation of a genetically modified pig kidney. Three weeks after the operation, her surgeon, Robert Montgomery, confirmed that Towana Looney has “normal kidney conditions”, adding that the patient benefits from an organ with ten genetic modifications to avoid immediate rejection by her body. “I’m full of energy, I have an appetite,” she joked, adding with a laugh, “and of course I can go to the bathroom!” »
Unlike previous transplants, no porcine thymus transplantation was performed, and a new combination of drugs was tested. The first two patients, Rick Slayman and Lisa Pisano, operated on earlier this year, did not survive due to their precarious state of health.
Application for clinical trial authorization
The company Revivicor, which supplied the kidney, now plans to request authorization to launch clinical trials as early as next year. According to Dr. Montgomery, these advances mark major progress for xenograft, a transplantation between species, making it possible to alleviate the organ shortage in the United States where more than 90,000 patients are waiting for a kidney. “The next goal is to extend the lifespan of these kidneys,” he said.
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The medical team believes that each operation provides crucial knowledge. “We learned a lot from each transplant. We now know a lot about what the pig kidney can do,” said Dr. Robert Montgomery. Towana Looney, for her part, should be able to return home within three months. “I am so grateful,” she concluded, offering a testimony of hope for thousands of patients around the world.
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