Innovation network: Invisible Organs improve life after transplantation sustainably

Organ rejection and immunosuppression remain unsolved problems for organ transplantation since decades. The innovation network "Invisible Organs" has the goal of solving this issue by developing invisible organs. The network is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the State of Lower Saxony.

In order to reduce the immunogenicity of donor organs, the organs to be transplanted will be genetically modified ex vivo. To this end, the tissue characteristics are selectively and permanently switched off, which leads to a lack of target structures for immunologically mediated rejection. As a result, an organ can no longer be recognised as extraneous.

"Transplantation must be rethought in order to break new ground. Invisible organs offer the prospect of a life without rejection and without immunosuppression, better transplant survival, better quality of life and more available organs," said Prof. Dr. Rainer Blasczyk, Director of the Institute of Transfusion Medicine at Hannover Medical School and coordinator of the Innovation Network. "Invisible Organ" is divided into three subprojects: Ex vivo organ modification, ex vivo perfusion system and cost analysis & participation.

SKC consulting is engaged as a cooperation partner in the innovation network "Invisible Organ". This includes primarily the analysis of the marketability of the ex vivo organ engineering process and thus the integration into subproject 3.

BY Prof. Matthias P. Schönermark, M.D., Ph.D., managing director and Dipl-Kauffrau Karolin Priese

Source: Invisible Organs