Silver Spring’s United Therapeutics Corporation provided an update on Mr. David Bennett, the first UHeart™ recipient, stating that “The recent transplants of our xenoheart and xenokidney products demonstrate the tremendous potential of our business model for the second half of the 2020s and beyond. Indeed, Mr. David Bennett, Sr., the first UHeart™ recipient, continues to have strong cardiovascular function seven weeks after his transplant.”
The surgery took place at the University of Maryland Medical Centre (UMMC). It was a first of its kind transplant of a genetically modified pig heart that was successfully carried out in David Bennett, a 57-year-old man with terminal heart disease.
The patient had been deemed ineligible for a conventional heart transplant, leaving the experimental surgery as his only option. In addition to not qualifying to be put on the transplant list, Mr Bennett was also deemed ineligible for an artificial heart pump due to his arrhythmia.
Prior to the surgery, Mr Bennett said: “It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice.”
UMSOM, along with the University of Maryland Medical Center produced a videoof the historic xeno UHeart transplant surgery. Further information can be found at https://www.umms.org/ummc/news/2022/first-successful-transplant-of-porcine-heart-into-adult-human-heart.
The company also announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2021.Full year total revenues for United Therapeutics rose to $1,686 million, as U.S. patients being treated with the company’s treprostinil-based therapies reached an all-time high during the fourth quarter of 2021.
“Our commercial teams continue to perform with double-digit percentage growth in revenue and patient counts in 2021 compared to 2020,” said Michael Benkowitz, President and Chief Operating Officer of United Therapeutics. “Despite a setback with Tyvaso DPI, we remain on track to achieve 6,000 patients with Tyvaso by the end of 2022.”
“We continue to make strong progress with patient growth as we march toward our target of reaching 25,000 patients with our therapies by the end of 2025,” said Martine Rothblatt, Ph.D., Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of United Therapeutics.
The full press release can be seen here.
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