The Kidney ProjectNEW HOPE FOR A PERMANENT SOLUTION

End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD)

With more than 400,000 patients in the United States suffering from ESRD, and 100,000 more developing permanent kidney failure every year, the disease is exacting a significant toll on patients, their families, and on our health care system.

ESRD is always fatal without treatment

A kidney transplant from a live or deceased donor is still the best option for treatment, but donor organs are in extremely short supply

Dialysis is only a short-term answer; it is costly, hard on the patient physically, and very restricting

Patients and their families have long dreamed of a permanent and patient-friendly solution for the treatment of ESRD that could provide the functional benefits of a live kidney without the need for a lifetime of expensive immunosuppressant drug therapy

A Solution is in Sight

The Kidney Project

Advances in science and technology over the decades since the first kidney transplant in 1962 have made it possible to understand the functioning of the kidney sufficiently to drive development of an artificial transplant solution.

The Kidney Project has developed a compact, implantable, bio-artificial kidney that is the size of a small coffee cup

Powered by the patient’s own blood pressure

No need for external devices or immunosuppressant drugs

Multicenter, Interdisciplinary Team

The Kidney Project is spearheaded by doctors, scientists veterinarians, and engineers at universities, hospitals and companies throughout the country.

William H. Fissell, MD, Vanderbilt Center for Kidney Disease, is the medical lead

Shuvo Roy, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, is the technical lead

Efforts are being coordinated with the NIH and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with participation in the FDA’s new expedited regulatory approval process, EAP

The primary challenge at present is the funding needed to take the device through clinical trials

Timeline

Clinical Trials to begin in 2017

First Human Trials anticipated in 2017

Clinical trials are anticipated to be completed by 2020, at which time the device would be available to patients for implant

The greatest obstacle will be funding. The Kidney Project has received almost $7 million from federal agencies in the United States for basic research and early groundwork. More donations are needed in order to commercialize the artificial kidney.

Donate NOWhttps://makeagift.ucsf.edu/site/SPageServer?pagename=A1_API_AppealGivingForm&Primary=Pharmacy&Allocation=Artificial%20Kidney%20Project&AppealCode=PKW11&AllocationCode=B2915&SchoolCode=PHA

Join the “buzz” about artificial kidney research at www.kidneybuzz.comHTTP://WWW.KIDNEYBUZZ.COM/ARTIFICIAL-KIDNEY-HOLDS-PROMISE-FOR-THOSE-AFFLICTED-WITH-ESRD/2013/4/2/ARTIFICIAL-KIDNEY-HOLDS-PROMISE-FOR-THOSE-AFFLICTED-WITH-ESRD