Way, way back in the 1960s and 1970s, the NIDDK (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a unit of the National Institutes of Health [NIH]) ran a series of programs to promote the development of better treatments to address kidney failure.
My memory about the specific location is a little fuzzy. I know I stayed at the Bethesda Holiday Inn on Wisconsin Avenue- and I seem to recall the meetings were held at that hotel, too.
Folks with government grants and folks using their corporate resources all reported about their research. As a matter of fact, it was at one of those meetings that we hatched the idea to create one of our products- the liquid bicarbonate dialysate. (Because of solubility concerns, dialysate was using the wrong buffer from a physiological point of view- acetate, rather than the bicarbonate buffered version. We solved the solubility issue.) Originally, it was to be marketed by our client, which got cold feet. Then, we arranged a joint venture with a larger firm (a 3-way deal), but it pulled out, too. So, it fell to me to take a leave of absence from my firm and grow this firm. It went national 35 years ago this month.
But, I digress.
Those meetings were heady times. All sorts of improvements were being discussed and developed. Moreover, everyone participated in a pretty free and open communication scene. That was where many of the contacts I made became my life-long associates- or competitors.
Jumping 40 years, we see that dialysis is now a mature business. There aren’t a lot of major changes or major improvements to therapy on the horizon. So, NIH and the American Society of Nephrology developed a Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX) program to get folks to reconsider kidney disease. (Although founded in 2018, the program got off to a slow start because of the government shutdown.) The goal of the program is to accelerate innovation in the dialysis sector, thereby improving the lives of the 850 million ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) patients around the world.
KidneyX is interested in the whole spectrum- prevention, diagnosis, and treatment- for ESRD. And, now, they have chosen what they consider to be the best chances to improve patient outcomes. The program planned to award 15 grants of about $ 75K each- followed by larger grants this year. (This makes the program very similar to the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research program) that NSF [National Science Foundation] has been running for a few years.)
If we are to develop a wearable artificial kidney, certain ancillary devices are needed. Like a means to remove air from the blood circulation- regardless of patient orientation. (They may be standing erect or lying supine; that is a big challenge to ensure air is not entrained in the blood circuit.) QidniLabs (Waterloo, Canada) has a grant for this development.
Then, there’s MiroMatrix, which plans to grow human cells on kidney scaffolds derived from pigs. (We talked about Dr. Atala’s pioneering work on scaffolding, and Wake Forest’s work previously.) The goal of this project is to have the cells grow into functioning kidneys to be used in transplants- there simply are not enough kidneys available to meet the needs. The trick MiroMatrix is developing is to effect the growth with sufficient vascularization to ensure adequate kidney function.
Dr. Shuvo Roy’s development of an implantable hemodialyzer is receiving funding to continue it’s pioneering developments. The concept is to have the patient undergo dialysis more frequently, removing the see-saw physiology that occurs with thrice weekly dialysis. Northwest Kidney Centers (this is one of the pioneering dialysis centers from the 1960s and 1970s, involved in the publicity of the ‘death panels’ that governed who would be afforded the limited dialysis therapy sessions) is working on a similar concept that has been selected by KidneyX. They call their AKTIV (ambulatory kidney to improve vitality), aiming to improve blood access, water efficient therapy at low cost.
The list below provides all the finalists. If you want to find out more about any of the projects, check out this link.
I ‘m looking forward to the results!
I have a few friends on the waiting list for kidneys. One has had a few matches but only up to the very end of testing, something was found that the match wasn’t good. So sad to see someone going through the agony of the wait.
There are loads of people in that boat, Martha. We can only hope that stem cell research will be allowed to solve these problems.
That’s exciting, that the KidneyX program exists! And how cool that you were on the scene with your invention, too. It’s neat to hear about your innovations.
What’s great is that this is happening even as our Federal Government abandons its responsibilities to fund research.
May this accelerate quickly. So many people in need. My guest photographer’s good friend is one of them.
We can only hope, Alana!
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