A clinical research team led by the Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo – in collaboration with Thai and German institutions – plans to temporarily transplant pig kidneys to a human foetus with severe kidney disease, reports The Japan Times.
The start date is early 2027, and is expected to be the world’s first xenotransplantation to a human foetus – one which has Potter sequence, a condition in which kidneys do not develop and urine cannot be produced sufficiently as a result.
After the transplant, it is hoped the foetus will be able to produce urine from birth.
The therapeutic method is intended 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 plan has already been approved by a special committee of the Jikei University, and the team is now collecting data necessary for the implementation of the research, according to Professor Takashi Yokoo, a member of the team.
The research will use kidneys taken from an aborted human foetus. However, because there is an ethical question in Japan regarding the use of foetal kidneys in research, Jikai has signed a joint research pact with a Thai university for its ethical screenings.
This foetal research coincides with other major advancements in xenotransplantation in the country. Separately, the Meiji University-linked biotech startup PorMedTec has bred cloned pigs with 69 genetic modifications collaborating with US firm eGenesis – and plans to start adult pig-to-human kidney transplant trials in Japan by 2028.
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