BLiPS: Biocompatible Liver in Pigs

Project Summary In the United States alone, more than 123,000 men, women and children currently need lifesaving organ transplants (https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/). Every 10 minutes another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list. Sadly, an average of 22 people die each day due to lack of available life-saving organ, with the numbers expected to increase every year. The same is true for patients on liver transplantation waitlist. In the United States, there are an average of 12,000 patients waiting for a liver transplantation at any given time. The ability to generate exogenous organs in pig for transplantation into humans (xenotransplantation) is considered as one of the sources to bridge this shortfall. Pigs are already being used for xenotransplantation studies as the size of the animal, organs and physiology are similar to humans. Several tissues from pigs (heart valves, bladder, cornea, etc) are already being used or in advanced stages of product development for transplantation into humans. The main goal of our Company is to generate human liver from donor patient- specific cells using pig as a bio-incubator. Following technical validation, this will provide a pathway for generating an “on-demand” source of transplantation ready hepatocytes for cellular therapies and will plug-in into the associated technologies such as organ-on- chips, 3D- printing, and pharmaceutical applications in the short-term. In the long-term, the goal is to generate immune-compatible transplantation ready solid organs for transplantation.