Transplantation – Barrier Free Japan

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 25, 2025 0

Japan’s Terumo to Buy British Firm for Organ Transplant Biz

Japanese medical equipment maker Terumo Corp. said Monday that it will fully acquire OrganOx Ltd., a British maker of equipment to preserve organs for transplantation, for 1.5 billion dollars. The acquisition will allow Terumo to make a full-fledged entry into the organ transplantation market, which is forecast to grow. Set up in 2008 as a spinoff from the University of Oxford, OrganOx developed medical equipment using normothermic machine perfusion, a technology to preserve organs by circulating fluids containing oxygen and nutrients through organs at near-body temperature.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 2, 2025 0

Birth Rate Japan Medical Transplantation

Keio University Ethics Panel OKs Uterus Transplant Clinical Trial

Keio university said it will consider whether to carry out the research, which would be the first uterine transplant procedure in Japan.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 19, 2024 0

Disability Japan Podcast Transplantation

Organ Transplant Stories From Japan [Podcast Episode]

Currently, over 14,000 people in Japan are waiting for a kidney transplant — by far the largest group when classified according to organ — with an average waiting period of 14 years and nine months. That compares with an average wait time of three to five years among 90,000 patients in need of kidney transplants in the United States.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 17, 2024 1

Disability Japan Organ Donation Transplantation

Patients Needing Transplants in Japan Face A Long Wait

Currently, over 14,000 people in Japan are waiting for a kidney transplant — by far the largest group when classified according to organ — with an average waiting period of 14 years and nine months. That compares with an average wait time of three to five years among 90,000 patients in need of kidney transplants in the United States.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 3, 2024 2

Disability Health Japan Medical Transplantation

3 Universities in Japan Prepare to Start Performing Heart Transplants; Move Aimed at Easing Strain on Medical Transplant System

The move comes as the number of organs provided from brain-dead donors increases. It also follows a recent survey that found medical institutions had declined 16 heart donations from such donors in 2023 due to a shortage of manpower and hospital beds. The number of medical facilities capable of performing heart transplants will increase to 14 nationwide after the hospitals at three national universities — Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Okayama University and Ehime University — are approved to perform such operations.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 5, 2024 0

Japan Medical Transplantation

Kyoto University Hospital Performs World’s 1st Live Lung, Liver Transplant

Kyoto University Hospital in western Japan said Monday that it has performed the world’s first simultaneous lung and liver transplant from living donors.

In the operation on Nov. 15 last year, a boy under the age of 10 with a genetic disorder received part of his parents’ lungs and part of his grandfather’s liver.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 13, 2024 1

Japan Medical Organ Donation Transplantation

Pigs for Organ Transplant Created for First Time in Japan

Japanese biotechnology startup PorMedTec Co. said Tuesday it has successfully created pigs for organ transplant into humans for the first time in Japan.

The Meiji University-driven firm used cells of pigs developed for xenotransplantation by U.S. startup eGenesis it imported in September last year. To suppress immune responses, the cell’s 10 genes were re-engineered.

Three genetically modified clone pigs were born on Sunday, PorMedTec said.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt November 28, 2023 0

Japan Organ Donation Transplantation

Japan NPO Exec Gets 8 Months for Unauthorized Organ Transplant Brokering

Tokyo District Court sentenced an executive of a Japanese nonprofit organization to eight months in prison Tuesday for unauthorized brokering of organ transplants.

Presiding Judge Yoshiro Baba handed down the ruling to Hiromichi Kikuchi, 63. Prosecutors had sought a one-year term and a fine of 1 million yen.

The judge fined the NPO that supports patients of intractable diseases 1 million yen, as had been sought by the prosecution.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 15, 2023 0

Genetics iPS Japan Transplantation

Japan Group Starts iPS Cell Supplies with Less Rejection Risk

When a transplant is performed, rejection occurs if the type of human leukocyte antigens, or HLA, of the donor does not conform with that of the recipient.

Using genome-editing technology, the foundation altered genes related to immune cells to create the iPS cells with lower rejection risk.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 10, 2023 0

Disability Japan Transplantation

Japan’s Health Ministry Survey Reveals 543 People Treated in Japan Post-Transplant Overseas

A survey by Japan’s health and welfare ministry shows at least 543 people in the country had received organ transplants overseas, as of the end of March this year.

The ministry conducted the survey following the arrest of the director of an NPO who is accused of brokering overseas organ transplants in February without government permission.