Expert consensus on clinical trials of human xenotransplantation in China

Abstract

The history of xenotransplantation started in the 19th century. After a few decades of investigation, significant breakthroughs and preclinical milestones have been achieved worldwide. With the recent transplantation of genetically modified porcine kidneys and heart into humans, these ground-breaking achievements have attracted great attention worldwide, in the hope that xenotransplantation might alleviate or even solve the problem of organ shortage. On January 20, 2022, the China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation convened a symposium on "The History, Current Situation and Future of Human Xenotransplantation Clinical Trials," where ways to promote the ethical and sustainable development of xenotransplantation in China were discussed among the participating experts. A formal consensus was reached as the product of the symposium, outlining the expert opinions on scientific, regulatory, and ethical issues of clinical trials of xenotransplantation in China.

From waste to wealth: Repurposing slaughterhouse waste for xenotransplantation

“…Nevertheless, recent activity within Asia is supporting the development of this field. Many Asian countries, such as China, Japan, and South Korea, are now conducting extensive studies on this subject (Chen et al, 2003;Guo et al, 2014;Shuji et al, 2017;Wang et al, 2019a;Girani et al, 2019;Kobayashi and Miyagawa, 2019;Pan et al, 2019;Park et al, 2019;Shimoda and Matsumoto, 2019;Kwon et al, 2020a;Kwon et al, 2020b;Liu et al, 2020;Liu and Liu, 2021;Sung et al, 2021;Huang and Foundation, 2022). Sociocultural factors are correlated to significantly lower organ donation rates in this region compared to Western countries.…”