Eledon Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s tegoprubart, an investigational anti-CD40 ligand antibody, was used as part of the immunosuppressive regimen after the first-ever transplant of a kidney from a genetically modified pig to a human. The tegoprubart procedure was done March 16 at Massachusetts General Hospital on a 62-year-old man with end-stage renal disease.
Scientists at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) have designed a group of synthetic molecules that could prevent the rejection of allogeneic cell transplants. Their strategy consisted of activating the immune checkpoints of different populations of immune cells from the cell surface, but avoiding the cytotoxicity of natural killer (NK) cells and macrophages that would destroy the transplanted cells.
United Therapeutics Corp. signed an agreement to acquire Miromatrix Medical Inc. for up to $140 million in cash, buying its way into additional organic growth. The deal would add Miromatrix’s comprehensive portfolio of bio-engineered organs to United’s existing organ production platform.