First person to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant dies almost 2 months later

The first recipient of a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died nearly two months after undergoing the procedure, his family and the hospital that performed the operation announced Saturday.

Richard “Rick” Slayman underwent the transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital in March at the age of 62. Surgeons said they believed the pig kidney would last at least two years.

The transplant team at Massachusetts General Hospital said in a statement that it was deeply saddened by Slayman’s death and offered its condolences to his family. They said they had no indication he died as a result of the transplant.

The Weymouth, Massachusetts, man was the first living person to undergo the procedure. Previously, pig kidneys had been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors. Two men received heart transplants from pigs, but both died within months.

Slayman underwent a kidney transplant at the hospital in 2018, but had to return to dialysis last year when it showed signs of failure. When dialysis complications arose requiring frequent procedures, his doctors suggested a pig kidney transplant.

In a statement, Slayman’s family thanked his doctors.

“Their enormous efforts to successfully complete the xenotransplantation gave our family seven additional weeks with Rick, and the memories created during this time will remain in our minds and hearts,” the statement said.

They said Slayman underwent the surgery in part to give hope to the thousands of people who need transplants to survive.

“Rick achieved this goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever,” the statement said.

Xenotransplantation refers to the healing of human patients with cells, tissues or organs from animals. Such efforts long failed because the human immune system immediately destroyed foreign animal tissues. Recent attempts have involved pigs that have been modified to make their organs more closely resemble those of humans.

More than 100,000 people are on the national transplant waiting list, most of them patients with kidney disease, and thousands die each year before their turn comes.