Kidney Transplant News and Research

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A kidney transplant is an operation where a healthy kidney from one person (the donor) is transferred to a person who has little or no kidney function (the recipient).

Georgia State Senate praised for passing legislation to help kidney failure patients have access to health insurance

Georgia’s kidney care community today praised the Georgia State Senate for unanimously passing important legislation (S.B. 316) to secure access to needed health insurance for approximately 2,000 Georgians suffering from kidney failure. The bill, which was originally introduced by Senators Don Thomas (R-Dalton) and Ed Harbison (D-Columbus), has received support from across the patient advocacy community and legislators alike.

20 Feb 2010

Report examines how medical technology changes state of health care

Federal researchers Wednesday released a report that examines how medical technology is changing the state of health care.

19 Feb 2010

Belatacept costimulation blocker can prevent rejection of new organs by the immune system

Initial results of a study conducted at 100 centers worldwide indicate that belatacept, a first-in-class costimulation blocker can prevent the immune system rejecting new organs. The results also suggest that it may provide similar patient and graft survival to cyclosporine but with fewer side effects and superior kidney function after 12 months. The study, published today in the American Journal of Transplantation, provides the first findings to come from BENEFIT (Belatacept Evaluation of Nephroprotection and Efficacy as First-line Immunosuppression Trial).

17 Feb 2010

Quark Pharmaceuticals' QPI-1002 receives orphan drug designation from FDA

Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a world leader in the discovery and development of RNAi-based therapeutics, announced today that the US FDA has granted orphan drug designation for QPI-1002 (also referred to as "I5NP"), a synthetic siRNA targeting p53 mRNA for the prophylaxis of delayed graft function (DGF) in kidney transplant patients.

17 Feb 2010

Older patients waiting longer for kidneys from younger donors

One-third of people over the age of 65 wait longer than necessary for lifesaving, new kidneys because their doctors fail to put them in a queue for organs unsuitable to transplant in younger patients but well-suited to seniors, research from Johns Hopkins suggests.

16 Feb 2010

Alexion Pharmaceuticals announces financial results for quarter and year ended December 31, 2009

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2009. For the three months ended December 31, 2009, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Alexion" or, the "Company") reported net product sales of Soliris® (eculizumab) of $110.6 million, reflecting strong additions of new patients, compared to $77.4 million for the same period in 2008.

11 Feb 2010

Quebec transplantation: 431 people receive 499 organs from 138 deceased donors

Owing to the generosity of Quebecers, 499 organs from 138 deceased donors in 2009 were transplanted into 431 recipients. Though there were 13 fewer donors than in 2008, Québec posted an average of more than 3.6 transplanted organs per deceased donor in 2009, placing the province among the leaders in Canada and even North America. "We're particularly proud of the sustained collaboration of professionals in hospitals in 2009," says Louis Beaulieu, chief executive officer of Québec-Transplant, the organization responsible for coordinating the organ donation process.

11 Feb 2010

DPC lauds passage of S.B. 316 dialysis care legislation

Dialysis Patient Citizens today praised the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee for unanimously passing legislation – S.B. 316 – which will increase patient access to life-saving dialysis care or transplant medications. Dialysis patients attending yesterday’s hearing encouraged lawmakers to support the bill which, if enacted, would greatly help approximately 2,000 Georgians suffering from kidney failure who are having difficulty accessing health insurance. Twenty-nine states across the country have enacted this popular legislation that is widely embraced by patients, family members and taxpayers.

11 Feb 2010

Raptor Pharmaceutical to present DR Cysteamine trial data at Lysosomal Disease Network Symposium

Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp., today announced the presentation of cystinosis data at the Annual Lysosomal Disease Network WORLD Symposium 2010, being held February 10-12 in Miami, Florida. Biomarker data from a Phase IIb pilot study of Raptor's proprietary delayed-release cysteamine bitartrate ("DR Cysteamine") will be the subject of a poster titled, "Correlation of Plasma Cysteamine and WBC Cystine Levels at Steady State in Patients Treated with Cysteamine Bitartrate." The results will also be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Molecular Genetics and Metabolism.

10 Feb 2010

Kidney care advocates urge passage of key legislation for Georgia’s kidney patients

On Tuesday, February 9, kidney patients from across the state of Georgia will join Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) – a national, non-profit, patient-led organization representing approximately 1,300 members in Georgia and 22,000 members nationwide – in holding a briefing at the State Capitol, followed by a series of meetings with lawmakers and staff, urging the passage of key legislation this year that would help thousands of Georgia’s kidney failure patients who are struggling to access health insurance for the medical care they need.

6 Feb 2010

Minimally invasive living donor liver retrieval for pediatric transplant

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is the only medical center in the United States to offer minimally invasive liver donation for pediatric transplantation. Surgeons use a laparoscopic technique to remove a section of liver from a living donor for implantation in a pediatric patient -- typically a parent donating to their child. The innovative approach promises dramatically improved recovery for the donor.

2 Feb 2010

FMCNA ships dialysis machines and supplies for Haiti relief efforts

Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), the world's largest integrated provider of products and services for individuals undergoing dialysis because of chronic kidney failure, is donating and delivering dialysis supplies to Haitians, at a time when relief supplies continue to be slow to reach those in need following a devastating earthquake and aftershock.

30 Jan 2010

Level of key immune cells in kidney transplant patients may predict risk of skin cancer

Measuring certain types of immune cells may predict the high risk of skin cancer after kidney transplantation, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

29 Jan 2010

Hypothermic machine perfusion outperforms standard cold-storage liver preservation

Preserving organs on ice prior to transplantation, an approach known as cold storage or CS, has been the standard practice in liver transplant for 20 years. Now there is new evidence that a technique called hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) may offer an improvement, according to the first-ever study comparing the impact of the two techniques on transplant outcomes.

27 Jan 2010

UCSB research: Rapamycin drug, a potential treatment for ADPKD

Research performed at UC Santa Barbara points to the drug rapamycin as a potential treatment for kidney disease. The study builds on past research and shows that studies performed on mice are more likely to translate to humans than previously thought.

27 Jan 2010

Movie star attends RSN Renal Teen Prom

For one precious night, movie star Jack Black helped more than 250 teens forget about dialysis and renal disease and enjoy a right of passage most kids take for granted—the prom.

19 Jan 2010

Results from Phase 2a clinical trial of Raptor Pharmaceutical's cysteamine bitartrate published

Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. ("Raptor" or the "Company"), today announced the publication of results from a Phase 2a clinical trial of a prototype formulation of its proprietary delayed-release cysteamine bitartrate ("DR Cysteamine") in patients with nephropathic cystinosis ("cystinosis").

11 Jan 2010

Fresenius Medical Care offers tips on how dialysis patients can plan their treatment during winter season

As winter brings freezing temperatures and blankets regions of the U.S. with snow, dialysis patients are especially vulnerable because they typically need treatment every two to three days, and any substantial delay can be life threatening. Power outages can disrupt their regular treatments, and snow and ice can make driving treacherous, preventing patients from getting treatment at dialysis facilities.

7 Jan 2010

Sharing Miracles: A TV program that features inspirational stories of real patients

Major League Baseball slugger Aaron Boone will be featured on January's episode of Sharing Miracles - a 30-minute public affairs television program that tells the compelling and inspirational stories of real patients. Sharing Miracles airs every week on more than 300 television stations nationwide.

31 Dec 2009

Kidney transplantation saves life

For more than 20 years Delores Evans battled diabetes, high blood pressure and, finally, kidney failure. By 2008 she needed a new kidney to stay alive, but she never could have imagined the circumstances that brought it about.

29 Dec 2009

Kidney Transplant News and Research

Further Reading

Georgia State Senate praised for passing legislation to help kidney failure patients have access to health insurance

Report examines how medical technology changes state of health care

Belatacept costimulation blocker can prevent rejection of new organs by the immune system

Quark Pharmaceuticals' QPI-1002 receives orphan drug designation from FDA

Older patients waiting longer for kidneys from younger donors

Alexion Pharmaceuticals announces financial results for quarter and year ended December 31, 2009

Quebec transplantation: 431 people receive 499 organs from 138 deceased donors

DPC lauds passage of S.B. 316 dialysis care legislation

Raptor Pharmaceutical to present DR Cysteamine trial data at Lysosomal Disease Network Symposium

Kidney care advocates urge passage of key legislation for Georgia’s kidney patients

Minimally invasive living donor liver retrieval for pediatric transplant

FMCNA ships dialysis machines and supplies for Haiti relief efforts

Level of key immune cells in kidney transplant patients may predict risk of skin cancer

Hypothermic machine perfusion outperforms standard cold-storage liver preservation

UCSB research: Rapamycin drug, a potential treatment for ADPKD

Movie star attends RSN Renal Teen Prom

Results from Phase 2a clinical trial of Raptor Pharmaceutical's cysteamine bitartrate published

Fresenius Medical Care offers tips on how dialysis patients can plan their treatment during winter season

Sharing Miracles: A TV program that features inspirational stories of real patients

Kidney transplantation saves life

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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