Editor’s Note: Check out “Dr. Sanjay Gupta Report: Animal Pharma” on CNN on Sunday, May 18th at 8pm (ET/PT/PT).
Tim Andrews knew that dialysis was needed to manage end-stage kidney disease, but over the months of treatment he began to wonder if it was worth it. He was exhausted and hopeless. He missed his grandson.
It kept him alive, but he didn’t feel alive.
Desperate for another option, he found an astonishing alternative: organs from pigs.
Andrews, 67, is a pioneer in a new kind of medicine. In January he underwent an experimental cross-sectional kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig. He is only one of the patients who took the experimental procedure. For now, he is the only person in the United States known to live with pig kidneys.
Andrews knew there was a risk of trying something very new, but if the kidneys were released from dialysis for only one more day, it was worth it to him and his fellow patients.
“This will do something for humanity,” Andrews said.
Andrews has been living with diabetes since the 1990s, and has managed his condition with insulin. About 25 years ago, he felt abnormally tired and went to the doctor. Tests showed he had stage 3 kidney failure. His kidneys were still functioning, but they were inefficient. He was relieved to learn that it was easier to manage due to changes in medication, surveillance and lifestyle.
But about a month later, the doctors made even worse news. Andrews’ kidney disease was rapidly progressing to terminal disease. Dialysis was the only option to keep him alive until he could receive an organ transplant.
Dialysis is very effective in cleaning blood, but it puts a “huge strain” on the body, a doctor at Andrews told CNN. At first, Andrews thought it was going well. However, about six months later, he suffered a heart attack.
“It hurts you emotionally and physically,” said Andrews, who lives in New Hampshire.
He was seduced to abandon dialysis altogether until he warned that if the doctor did, he should “choose a box.” His body will be there within a few months as the state had his kidneys in it.
He kept it for six hours three days a week. On his break, he slept. By the time he woke up, he had to redo the process.
When he thinks about his dialysis experience, Andrews appreciates what the doctors and nurses did to keep him alive. But the whole situation also hurt his spirit when he had to sit on that oversized green chair and keep plugging in with the dialysis machine.
He was too tired to walk or get groceries. He couldn’t eat. Even for a few hours he felt OK, but his immune system was so weak that he had to avoid the crowd. Dialysis meant playing the Red Sox, having fun with my grandchildren, and having no more trips.
As time passed, he couldn’t think of gratitude. All he could think of was death.
The side effects of dialysis had become so bad that he wanted to quit, but his wife, Karen, did not allow him. He also told him to continue to hear his father’s voice in his mind, stop complaining and start doing something about his situation.
Andrews learned that the chances of receiving human kidney donations are not good.
In the US, approximately 90,000 people are on the kidney waiting list. Most people don’t get transplant because they get sick or die while waiting for a match.
Andrews’ chances were slimmer than most due to his rare blood type. People usually wait about 3-5 years for the donor’s kidneys. For him, it’s probably 7-10 years. The doctor thought his body could only take dialysis for five years.
“I was a little short,” Andrews said. “I know what the end stage means.”
However, his research gave him hope. Massachusetts General Hospital was also investigating animal alternatives. He requested that the hospital contact be in touch with one of the doctors on the project: Dr. Leonardo Riella, medical director of kidney transplants at Mass General.
When they first met, Andrews was “very frail,” Riella said. He arrived in his wheelchair. However, when Riella mentioned what is known as xenografts, transplants using genetically modified pig organs – Andrews’ eyes “spark.”
“He said, ‘Please tell me what I need to do.’ ”
Riella told Andrews that if she wants to have any kind of implant, she needs to be stronger.
“They said, ‘I’ll prepare your body for the fight,'” recalled Andrews’ wife, Karen.
For the next few months, Andrews went to gym and physical therapy, fixed his teeth, got some vaccines, and lost 22 pounds.
When he returned to the clinic a few months later, Riella said Andrews “almost ran around the room.”
He told people about the procedures. He prayed. His wife, Karen, had to agree. If they get the green light, she will need to sign the consent form. With a small chance he got a virus from his organs, she was exposed to it too.
“I was a little surprised by that,” Karen said. However, she had no doubt that this transplant was the right method, although rare.
“It needs to be better than dialysis,” she said. “He’s always felt so bad.”
January was finally time.
On the day of the surgery, his family hugged him and kissed him goodbye. Karen gave him a high five and wanted him for luck.
The procedure was supposed to take four hours, but it only took about 2 hours and 15 minutes, Karen said her phone rang. The doctor finished early and said, “It was incredibly well.”
The doctor’s team told Karen that he successfully attached the genetically modified pig kidneys along with Andrews’ dysfunctional organs.
“They put their kidneys on the table and started connecting him to the kidneys, and he actually peered into the room,” Karen said with a laugh. Everyone in the operating room started cheering.
“Of course I started baiting like a baby,” Karen said.
It all happened so quickly that even the doctor who had the surgery was surprised.
“It worked quickly and the numbers started to get better,” Riella said.
After awakening from surgery, Andrews felt “reactivated and activated.”
“I was alive, but not for a long time,” he said.
He jumped out of bed and tap-danced across the room, he said. His heart clearly felt it.
“It was a miracle,” Andrews said. That much declared he was celebrating a new birthday.
“I said, ‘Look at me, I’m like a new guy,'” he said. “It’s like a new birth. “I’ve had a new birthday. 1/25/25 is my new birthday.”
After the implantation, Andrews spent a week in the hospital, but only with plenty of attention.
For the next few months, he has several “small bumps on the road,” including three weeks of hospitalization. However, pig kidneys do what kidneys from living human donors do.
Life is back to normal. Andrews takes a long walk, vacuums and cleans with his dog and cupcakes.
He is currently taking more than 50 tablets a day, as doctors are trying to figure out what kind of medication he needs with his new kidney. But living without dialysis made such a difference.
“Basically, I was always asleep and I was always sick. Now I can do whatever I want,” Andrews said.
He makes himself imagine the future. He cannot wait to see his grandson again.
“They’re looking at me the lowest of their hearts, and now they’ll be able to see me alive and laughing and continuing like my granddad,” Andrews said.
If everything goes well, he hopes to take Karen to Europe in a year. He said they postponed it too long.
Still, Andrews knows that pig kidneys may not function in the long term. He is still on the waiting list for human organs. If the pig’s kidneys can act as a bridge that keeps them healthy enough to wait for matches from human donors, it will be successful with first medical care.
Andrews is the fourth living patient in the United States to obtain a genetically modified pig kidney transplant, and he is not the last. In addition to ongoing trials at Mass General, in collaboration with Biotech Firm Egenesis, United Therapeutics Corp, another leading biotech company supporting the creation of PIG kidneys, announced in February that it will be allowed to begin its own clinical trial with New York University.
In March 2024, Richard Suleiman became the world’s first living patient to acquire genetically modified pig kidneys. The surgery at Mass General worked, but he died two months later of a non-transplant-related cause.
The doctor said he learned a lot from his experiences with Slayman. Riella said he had a scar in his heart after eight years of dialysis, and it’s probably important to get a patient like Andrews who probably doesn’t need dialysis for a long time.
In April 2024, Lisa Pisano became the first person to receive a mechanical heart pump, not just a gene-edited pig kidney. The organ failed due to limited blood flow and was removed the following month. She passed away in July 2024.
Then, in November 2024, NYU transplanted 53-year-old Towana Looney with genetically modified pig kidneys. It worked for four months to nine days, the longest ever, but doctors had to remove it in April, when the immune system began to reject it.
It will be important to come up with ways to manage rejections, doctors say. Pig kidneys Andrews and Suleiman received 69 genome edits, but Rooney was less. Doctors say they don’t know any editors who still need to edit, but both versions of the modified pig kidney have the pig gene removed and the human gene added to make organs more compatible with the human body.
Patients will also receive anti-denial drugs and wearable remote monitoring tools. However, doctors are still thinking about how much medication and monitoring is needed.
“It’s a learning curve,” Riella said.
Riella is a hopeful xenograft that will one day solve the world’s organ shortages.
“I think patients like Tim will be remembered as heroes,” he said. “We can’t move this to the clinic unless they’re willing to take a risk.”
Andrews remembers feeling that he had to make a choice. But he also remembers what it was like to sit in a dialysis centre for hours.
“It’s hard to deal with mortality. I think, ‘Oh, I can handle it,’ but that’s tough,” he recently returned to his green chair after dialysis. “It was extremely difficult to realize that was the case.
“I was going to die in this building.”
He found an exit. He hopes that his story will inspire others to look for hope.
“We see too many people giving up,” Andrews said. “Don’t give up.”