Eledon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ELDN) has announced that its investigational anti-CD40L antibody, tegoprubart, was used as a key component of the immunosuppression therapy regimen in a patient who recently received a kidney transplant from a genetically modified (GM) pig.
According to Eledon, the procedure was performed on January 2025 by surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), in collaboration with eGenesis. Tegoprubart is being administered investigationally as part of a regime designed to prevent the patient’s body from rejecting the transplanted organ. In December 2024, MGH received FDA approval to proceed with the transplant and plans to perform two additional xenotransplants this year. Following the successful transplant, the patient was discharged from the hospital and is now off dialysis for the first time in more than two years.
In a statement, David-Alexandre C. Gros, MD, CEO of Eledon, said, “This second kidney xenotransplant conducted at MGH represents another important milestone in the effort to consider new strategies in transplantation and immunosuppression to address the global organ shortage crisis. We are grateful to the patient, the team at MGH, and our partner eGenesis for supporting tegoprubart’s central role in these landmark procedures.”
Dr. Gros added, “Blocking the CD40 Ligand is a critical component of the immunosuppression regimen for effective translation of organ transplant from nonhuman primates into humans. Our anti-CD40L antibody tegoprubart represents a novel approach to immunosuppression therapy with the potential to improve safety and efficacy and enable patients to live longer with their transplanted organs.”
