09/09/2026
🩺 A first-of-its-kind bridge in kidney transplantation!
In January 2025, 66-year-old Tim Andrews received a gene-edited pig kidney after spending two years on dialysis for kidney failure. The kidney functioned immediately and kept him dialysis-free for 271 days — the longest reported survival with a pig kidney in a living recipient at the time.
When the kidney eventually failed, Andrews returned to dialysis. Just 82 days later, he received a deceased-donor human kidney, which began working immediately.
Researchers found no evidence of pig pathogen transmission and no evidence that the xenotransplant made it harder for his body to accept the human kidney.
Andrews is now the first reported patient to successfully bridge from a pig kidney to a human kidney — a development that could have important implications for the future of transplantation.
With more than 90,000 people in the U.S. waiting for a kidney transplant, innovative approaches like this could one day help bridge the gap between patients in need and the lifesaving organs they are waiting for.
A pig kidney did something transplant medicine had never documented before, carrying a patient until a human kidney became available.
On January 25, 2025, 66-year-old Tim Andrews received a gene-edited pig kidney at Massachusetts General Hospital after two years on dialysis for end-stage kidney disease.
The organ functioned immediately and kept him dialysis-free for 271 days, then the longest such survival reported in a living recipient.
After it failed, surgeons removed the kidney and Andrews returned to dialysis.
Eighty-two days later, in January 2026, he received a deceased-donor human kidney that began working immediately.
Researchers detected no pig pathogen transmission and no evidence that the xenotransplant sensitized his immune system against the human organ.
Andrews became the first reported patient to bridge from a pig kidney to a human transplant.
More than 90,000 Americans are waiting for kidneys, making that bridge a potentially important new way to survive the shortage.
