34 Lives Rescues First Kidney for Transplant

Located in West Lafayette, Indiana, the public benefit corporation 34 Lives is dedicated to decreasing the number of kidneys recovered for transplant but ultimately not used. On April 20, it made its first successful rescue of a human kidney regarded as unusable. The kidney was subsequently transplanted into a patient who had been receiving dialysis for nearly 2 years.

The company is named for the approximately 34 lives lost each day in the United States as patients on the transplant waiting list are removed due to death or because they are too ill for a transplant. The company has received funding from the National Kidney Foundation Innovation Fund, Ballad Health, the Niswonger Foundation, and individual investors.

Currently, 34 Lives is conducting a nationwide study in collaboration with organ procurement organizations and transplant hospitals to determine whether transporting hard-to-place donor kidneys to a central preservation and assessment facility with dedicated organ assessment capabilities increases allocation success to transplant hospitals. It will document 80 rescued kidneys.