TRANSBIO · A BIOmarker-based assay for prognosis and monitoring in renal TRANSplantation

Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). However, although surgical techniques and postoperative care have greatly advanced, renal transplantation is not empty of challenges.The most important challenge is to achieve the long-term survival of the transplanted organ. Graft survival depends on the ability of the recipe of not rejecting the “foreign organ”. Rejection is a naturally occurring process triggered by a biological response of the immune system, which main function in the body is to defend it against infectious organisms and other invaders. As such, the immune system is prepared to reject a “foreign organ”, something that is nowadays prevented by prescribing immunosuppressive therapies to the patients for their whole life. However, the use of immunosuppressive therapies entails important problems. On one side, suppressing the immune system implies severe side effects like opportunistic infections, cancer and other severe malignancies. On the other side, even under immunosuppressive therapies, about 40% of transplanted kidneys are lost during the first 15-20 years and this is because of an immune response known as chronic rejection. Therefore, the major challenges in ESKD deal with avoiding the side effects associated with immunosuppressant drugs and avoiding chronic rejection.In the TRANSBIO project we aim at bringing to the healthcare market a patented (201500415) technology for efficient prognosis and monitoring of patients undergoing a kidney transplant based on a simple and non-invasive blood Considering that worldwide, the number of people receiving renal transplantation annually (incidence) is estimated at more than 1.4 million, representing a prevalence of about 5 million people; the TRANSBIO business opportunity seems unquestionable.