Japan Team Eyes World’s 1st Pig Kidney Transplant to Human Fetus

Tokyo, July 21 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese research team including the Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo aims to carry out clinical research to temporarily transplant pig kidneys to a human fetus with a severe kidney disease. The team is fully starting joint research with Thai and German institutions to confirm the effectiveness and safety at an early time, with an aim to conduct the clinical research in fiscal 2027 at the earliest. This is expected to be the world’s first xenotransplantation to a human fetus. Xenotransplantation is transplanting cells or organs of one species to another. In the clinical research, the team plans to transplant pig kidneys to a fetus with Potter sequence, a condition in which kidneys do not develop and urine cannot be produced sufficiently as a result. After the transplant, the fetus will likely be able to produce urine from birth. The therapeutic method is supposed to be temporary treatment until dialysis becomes possible for the baby. In the future, it may also be used in palliative care for elderly patients with terminal-stage renal failure for whom dialysis has become difficult. The clinical research plan has already been approved by a special committee of the Jikei University School of Medicine, and the team is now collecting data necessary for the implementation of the research, according to Takashi Yokoo, a professor at the university and member of the team. Planned as part of the efforts is a transplant using kidneys taken from an artificially aborted human fetus. The human-to-human transplant with relatively little rejection is aimed at confirming the effectiveness and safety prior to xenotransplantation. But there is an ethical question about using fetal kidneys in research, and the hurdle for implementing this method is high in Japan. To deal with the issue, the Jikei University School of Medicine signed a joint research pact with a Thai university in April. It plans to promote the research based on the systems and ethical screenings of the country. Meanwhile, rejection may occur after xenotransplantation. Therefore, the team, in cooperation with a German university, is planning to transport kidneys of pigs that were genetically modified to control rejection to Japan and use them for its transplant research. The team hopes to accumulate data through the joint research with the foreign universities to carry out its clinical research at an early time. “We want to deliver the new therapy as soon as possible to rescue lives that cannot be saved due to a lack of effective treatment,” Yokoo said. Besides the research team, Japanese startup PorMedTec, linked to Meiji University, is preparing for a clinical trial to transplant pig kidneys to human patients. The company, based in the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, eastern Japan, plans to conduct the trial at two facilities, including Hokkaido University Hospital in Sapporo, the capital of the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, as early as 2028. In other countries, transplants of kidneys and hearts from genetically modified pigs to humans have been carried out. Amid a global lack of human donors, pig organs are mainly used for xenotransplantation to humans because they are relatively similar to human organs in size and structure. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]