Baylor College of Medicine announced on Aug. 10 a new research agreement with United Therapeutics Corporation that will provide up to $5 million annually for five years to establish the Baylor College of Medicine Center for Xenoliver Transplantation and Immunomodulation (XTI). The center will focus on advancing scientific understanding of xenoliver transplantation.
The XTI's research will emphasize patient populations with high unmet needs, including those facing barriers to timely liver transplants such as end-stage organ failure and patients whose immune systems have developed antibodies to foreign tissue. The center will also investigate immunomodulatory interventions, including how dendritic cells might improve human tolerance to xenoliver transplantation.
John Goss, M.D., chief of abdominal transplant in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, and William K. Decker, Ph.D., professor of pathology and immunology at Baylor, will serve as co-directors. Baylor’s transplant program is known for heart, lung, abdominal, liver and kidney transplants and access to the latest techniques in organ transplantation.
United Therapeutics’ organ manufacturing program includes investigational products across several platforms addressing the shortage of transplantable organs. Their clinical program features three investigational xeno organs—UKidney, UThymokidney, and UHeart—sourced from genetically edited pigs designed to facilitate immunological acceptance in human recipients and reduce rejection risk.
The shortage of organs remains a significant issue in the United States; thousands die each year waiting for a transplant. Liver candidates are the second-largest group on national waiting lists, with about 10,000 people currently awaiting a liver transplant.
"Xenotransplantation is an exciting field of scientific and clinical research that shows great promise for increasing the availability of transplantable organs. Advancements in editing the porcine genome bolster the potential of xenotransplantation by improving the probability of human immune acceptance of a porcine organ," said Jakub Tolar, M.D., Ph.D., president, CEO and executive dean at Baylor. Goss said, "Despite advances, the full potential of organ transplantation has not been realized and patients continue to lose their lives while waiting for a transplant due to the shortage of suitable organs... This collaboration will allow our scientists to attempt to dissect the human allogeneic and xenogeneic immune responses and may ultimately allow use of xenogeneic organs so that patients with end-stage organ failure will be offered transplantation." Decker said, "This exciting new relationship with United Therapeutics is an extraordinary opportunity... The goal here is not to make incremental improvements in xenogeneic tolerance but to genuinely expand access to lifesaving organ replacement." Dr. Todd Rosengart added, "If we together can unlock this puzzle there will be new organs available for literally thousands of patients in critical need."
