Transplantation

Research and Development

AB0 Column

A deficit of organs means that fewer transplants are performed than desired. One way to reduce organ deficit is to use organs donated by family members to a greater extent. Transplants between family members are less complicated from a medical perspective when the donor and recipient have the same blood group and genetic makeup.

The number of transplantations would most likely increase if a simpler method of performing transplants between individuals of different blood groups was found. One method that is used in some cases to overcome the blood group barrier is the utilization of plasmapheres, a procedure in which the patient’s blood plasma containing the antibodies is replaced with another liquid.

The procedure is associated with high infection risk. Other methods are also used today to facilitate transplants between people of different blood groups, but these too are associated with significant patient risk. A new method that is more accommodating for the patient is the use of AB0 columns to clean the blood of antibodies directed against the blood group antigen.

The procedure, called adsorption, is similar to dialysis and is performed today in a number of different instances to reduce the patient’s antibodies to manageable levels. AbSorber is planning clinical trials to test the company’s proprietary AB0 column in early 2012. The goal is to achieve CE marking for sales in Europe in 2012 and FDA registration for sales in the U.S. the year after.