OrganOx: Pioneering the future of organ transplantation
In 2014, in a world first, a donated human liver was ‘kept alive’ outside the body before being successfully transplanted into a patient. This was another milestone in the longstanding, groundbreaking collaboration between Oxford scientists Professor Constantin Coussios and Professor Peter Friend, and the spinout company they founded, OrganOx.
OrganOx has since become one of the University’s most celebrated examples of innovation and technology transfer and been instrumental in transforming healthcare and saving lives. The technique, known as normothermic machine perfusion, maintains donated livers in a fully functioning state for up to 24 hours prior to transplantation. Compared with standard cold storage, this results in 50% fewer discarded livers and 20% more transplanted livers.
OrganOx technology not only gives surgeons longer to decide whether a candidate liver is suitable for transplantation, the higher storage temperature and increased functionality makes it easier to assess. There’s also the flexibility: in a clinical trial, 84% of transplants took place during the day versus 65% with static cold storage.
That’s music to the ears of the hundreds of people waiting for a liver transplant in the UK alone. As of 2023, OrganOx’s metra product had supported more than 2,000 liver transplants worldwide, with the FDA’s regulatory approval in 2022 meaning the technology could be applied to a huge unmet need in the United States.
The metra itself is fully automated, transportable, and easy to set up and operate. It keeps donor livers perfused - supplied with oxygenated blood, medications and nutrients - at normal body temperature and in near-physiological condition. The 24-hour window of opportunity addresses the challenge of performing transplants in patients with substantial journey times.
More than 30 years since Professors Coussios and Friend began working together, OrganOx has changed the game for organ transplantation worldwide.
Impact
- >2,000 liver transplants worldwide
- 50% fewer discarded organs
- 20% more transplanted livers
- >50 publications supporting OrganOx technology
Compared with standard cold storage, this results in 50% fewer discarded livers and 20% more transplanted livers.
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