GGTA1 KO pig kidney with thymus for people with end-stage kidney failure

EXTEND: A Prospective Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of GGTA1 KO Thymokidney XenoTransplantation in Patients With End-stage Renal Disease (ESRD)

This test tries a genetically modified pig kidney with attached thymus tissue (GGTA1 KO Thymokidney) in people with end-stage kidney failure who either can't get a human donor kidney or are unlikely to get one within five years.

Quick facts

• Phase: Phase1; Phase2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 50 (estimated)
• Ages: 40 Years to 70 Years
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: United Therapeutics (Industry-sponsored)
• Locations: 1 site (New York, New York)
• Trial ID: NCT07224763 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This is an open-label Phase 1/2 xenotransplant approach in which participants receive a GGTA1 knockout pig kidney that includes thymic tissue, followed by close monitoring. The program enrolls two groups: people medically ineligible for conventional allogeneic kidney transplantation and people on the OPTN waitlist who are unlikely to receive a kidney within five years. After transplantation there is a 24-week post-transplant assessment period (Part A) and a lifetime long-term follow-up (Part B) including graft survival, participant survival, and screening for zoonotic infections. The study includes a screening period of up to 52 weeks and is sponsored by United Therapeutics at NYU Langone Health.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Adults with end-stage renal disease who have been on hemodialysis at least six months, are aged 50–70 (or 40–49 with cPRA ≥99.9%), live within three hours of the xenotransplant center, and are either medically ineligible for a human transplant or unlikely to receive one within five years are the intended candidates.

Not a fit: Patients with active infections, incompatible immunologic profiles, an intact thymus (no thymic involution), those living beyond the travel radius, or those eligible for standard allogeneic transplantation are unlikely to benefit from this xenotransplant approach.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could restore kidney function and reduce or eliminate the need for long-term dialysis in patients who cannot access human donor kidneys.

How similar studies have performed: Related gene-edited porcine organ xenotransplants have shown early graft function in a small number of compassionate-use or research cases, but use of a GGTA1 KO Thymokidney in living ESRD patients is still early and largely untested.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria for all Participants (Groups 1 and 2):

1. Provide voluntarily informed consent to participate in the study and for lifetime follow-up.
2. Have a diagnosis of ESRD at the time of informed consent.
3. Hemodialysis dependent for a minimum of 6 months and has a functioning arterial-venous fistula/graft or permanent catheter at the time of informed consent.
4. 50 to 70 years of age at the time of informed consent, or 40 to \<50 years of age with a calculated panel reactive antibody (cPRA) of ≥99.9%.
5. Evidence of thymic involution on chest computed tomography (CT) scan with a thymic region of interest score of ≤1.
6. Live within 3 hours travel time of the xenotransplant center.
7. Female participants must be postmenopausal or permanently sterilized (eg, hysterectomy, bilateral oophorectomy, or bilateral salpingectomy). Male participants must agree to the use of a highly effective method of birth control, if the possibility of conception exists.
8. Negative xeno-crossmatch at Screening and pre-transplant.
9. Estimated Post Transplant Survival Calculator score \>20%.(https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/allocation-calculators/epts-calculator/).
10. Body mass index ≤35 kg/m2.
11. Have completed or have initiated and plan to complete (meningococcal A, C, W, Y and meningococcal B vaccine series only) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended courses of age- and risk-factor-appropriate vaccinations.
12. Seropositive (immunoglobulin G) for cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus.

Additional Inclusion Criteria for Group 1:

1\. Ineligible for conventional allogeneic kidney transplantation due to medical reason(s) for any of the following:

1. Ineligible for a living donor transplant.
2. Ineligible for an OPTN kidney transplant waitlist (reason for ineligibility will be collected).
3. Delisted from OPTN kidney transplant waitlist (reason for delisting will be collected).

Additional Inclusion Criteria for Group 2:

1. On an OPTN kidney transplant waitlist (active or inactive status).
2. No approved living kidney donors.
3. More likely to die or go untransplanted within 5 years than receive a kidney transplant as measured by the Kidney Transplant Decision Aid at the time of informed consent (select United States for "Choose your state" field and National average for "Choose your transplant program" field; https://www.srtr.org/tools/kidney-transplant-decision-aid/).

Exclusion Criteria (pertain to all participants in Groups 1 and 2):

1. Need for multiple organ transplants.
2. Severe medical co-morbidities including, but not limited to:

   1. Chronic liver disease.
   2. Advanced cardiovascular disease.
   3. Severe peripheral vascular disease that limits technical ability to transplant the GGTA1 KO Thymokidney.
   4. Severe neurologic diseases or conditions that would preclude meaningful recovery or informed consent.
   5. Oral steroid-dependent airway disorder or chronic pulmonary disease or requires chronic, intermittent, or continuous supplemental oxygen.
   6. Pulmonary hypertension.
   7. Uncontrolled diabetes or sequelae of diabetes mellitus including severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
   8. Severe neurogenic bladder that requires intermittent catheterization.
3. ESRD due to hereditary or structural kidney disease.
4. Active or recently treated malignancy at the time of informed consent.
5. Non-renal cause of hematological disorders associated with anemia (eg, thalassemia and sickle disease).
6. Cannot discontinue chronic anticoagulation therapy (low-dose daily aspirin is permissible).
7. History of major psychiatric disorders with psychiatric hospitalization and/or suicidal ideation within 5 years of informed consent.
8. Being treated for active tuberculosis (TB), have received prophylaxis for positive FDA-approved interferon-gamma release assay, or test positive for TB by FDA-approved interferon-gamma release assay test during Screening.
9. Nucleic acid test (NAT) positive for hepatitis B virus and/or hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) titer \<10 mIU/mL unless the participant is determined to be a nonresponder to hepatitis B vaccination (a nonresponder is defined as having an anti-HB titer \<10 mIU/mL after having completed both the standard vaccine series and a fourth booster dose and/or second standard vaccine series), and/or positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibody and/or NAT).
10. Not able to independently perform activities of daily life.
11. Have a history of medical noncompliance that may preclude adherence to the demands and requirements of xenotransplantation (eg, history of substance use disorder \[SUD\] within 1 year of informed consent, lack of social support, untreated psychological conditions).

Where this trial is running

New York, New York

• New York University Langone Health — New York, New York, United States (Recruiting)

Study contacts

• Study coordinator: United Therapeutics Global Medical Information

Conditions ESRD; Kidney Transplantation; Xenotransplantation; End-stage renal disease; GGTA1 KO Thymokidney