A baby who underwent two procedures under an FDA expanded access application last summer is believed to be the first person to receive a combination heart transplant and allogeneic processed thymus tissue implantation.
The baby, Easton Sinnamon, has now celebrated his first birthday and appears to be gaining the immune cells necessary to reduce or eliminate the need for toxic anti-rejection drugs.
The processed thymus tissue implantation method — pioneered at Duke by Louise Markert, M.D. and licensed to Enzyvant Therapeutics — uses a proprietary technique to culture and administer processed thymus tissue. Cambridge, Mass.-based Enzyvant, a subsidiary of Sumitovant Biopharma, received FDA approval last fall for allogeneic processed thymus tissue-agdc, indicated for immune reconstitution in pediatric patients with congenital athymia, a rare condition in which children are born without a thymus. The biotech focuses on dedicated to developing novel, transformative regenerative therapies for people with devastating rare diseases.
The procedures performed at Duke University Hospital represent a milestone in heart transplantation that could be a game-changer for solid organ transplant. If proven successful, it could mean that future transplant recipients would not reject donated organs and would not need to undergo treatment with long-term immune-suppression medication.
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