The University of Alabama at Birmingham has announced a five-year, $19.5 million grant to its Comprehensive Transplant Institute from biotechnology company United Therapeutics to launch a xenotransplantation program.

Xenotransplantation refers to any procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation, or infusion into a human recipient of live cells, tissues, or organs from a non-human animal source or human body fluids, cells, tissues, or organs that have had ex vivo contact with live non-human animal cells, tissues, or organs. To be led by Joseph Tector, M.D., Ph.D., one of the leading xenotransplant researchers in the United States, the program hopes to perform the first kidney transplants from genetically modified pigs to humans by 2021. Pig heart valves have been used for years without ill effect and seldom elicit rejection, and UAB scientists believe whole organ transplants will be possible in the near future if immunological and physiological barriers can be overcome.

"Transplantation is one of medicine's greatest triumphs, saving thousands of lives each year and improving the quality of life for many of those fortunate enough to obtain a scarce graft from another person," said Tector. "Unfortunately, the supply of human organs is insufficient to treat all the patients who present each year with organ failure and who could benefit if a compatible graft were available. While substantial progress has been made toward harnessing the tremendous potential of stem cell biology and tissue engineering, most approaches based on these young technologies are at a proof-of-concept stage and far from clinical application. These considerations provide a powerful impetus for preclinical translational research to develop clinical therapies using organ and islet xenografts, which I believe are close to making clinical impact."