OrganOx and ProCure Partner to Expand Access to Liver Transplant Technology

In a significant development for the organ transplantation field, OrganOx, a leading manufacturer of liver preservation devices, has announced a strategic partnership with ProCure On-Demand, a specialized organ recovery services provider. This collaboration aims to improve the recovery and assessment of donor livers for transplantation by combining OrganOx's innovative normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) technology with ProCure's surgical and logistical expertise.

Enhancing Liver Transplant Capabilities

The partnership between OrganOx and ProCure addresses a critical need in the transplant community. Despite a record-breaking 10,000 liver transplants performed in 2023, experts believe that many more could be facilitated with the right technology and skilled professionals in place.

Craig Marshall, CEO of OrganOx, highlighted the complementary nature of the partnership, stating, "ProCure has built a highly talented and deeply tenured team of abdominal surgeons and perfusionists that complement [our device]. Together, we are able to provide flexible solutions that meet the wide-ranging needs of transplant programs across the country and their unique operating environments."

OrganOx's NMP technology, which has been approved in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Australia, has already been utilized in over 5,000 liver transplants. The device maintains donor livers in a metabolically active state outside the body, allowing for a comprehensive functional assessment before transplantation.

Expanding Access and Improving Outcomes

ProCure, which launched in late 2020 and began organ recovery operations in 2022, has rapidly expanded its reach to cover 46 states and Puerto Rico, encompassing 53 organ procurement organization donation service areas. The company's flexible model allows transplant centers to select from a variety of services without being locked into a comprehensive solution.

Zachary Kon, M.D., co-founder and CEO of ProCure, explained the challenges in organ utilization: "Things on paper are not necessarily 100% reflective of how good or bad the liver is, ultimately. You have to be willing to go and look at it, and access to these kinds of technology ... allows transplant centers and surgeons more comfort to go and look in the first place."

The partnership addresses practical limitations of NMP devices, such as size and weight restrictions for air transport. ProCure can now offer clients delivery and operation of the OrganOx device in addition to its other services, charging only for the service of delivering or operating the equipment.

Growing Adoption of Machine Perfusion Technology

The use of machine perfusion techniques in liver transplantation has been steadily increasing. In 2023, machine perfusion was used on nearly 13% of all livers and more than a third of donation after circulatory death (DCD) livers in the United States. DCD livers, considered higher risk, have been shown to perform significantly better when stored using NMP technology.

Utilization of NMP specifically has grown dramatically in the U.S., from 7% in 2022 to 39% in 2024, according to data from L.E.K. Consulting. Dr. Kon predicts this trend will continue, stating, "The accepted practice is going to be all livers, if not most livers, should get machine perfusion to have a better outcome than just ice alone."

This partnership between OrganOx and ProCure represents a significant step forward in improving access to advanced liver preservation technology and potentially increasing the number of successful liver transplants performed annually.