David Bennett, a 57-year-old patient who received the first human heart transplant from a genetically engineered pig, died Tuesday afternoon at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), two months and a day after the operation. .
His condition began to worsen a few days ago, the hospital said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that he received palliative care after it was determined that he was convicted.
The statement said that he was able to communicate with loved ones in the last hours before his death.
First admitted to the UMMC in October, David Bennett was deemed unfit for a conventional heart transplant.
Full risk information
The heart transplant of a genetically modified pig, carried out on January 7, was the first operation in the world, which his son called a “miracle”.
The operation is one of the first to establish the possibility of transplanting pig organs into humans, made possible by new gene-editing tools.
“Before the transplant, Mr. Bennett was fully informed of the risks associated with this method and that it was experimental and comes with unknown risks and benefits,” the hospital said.
“No signs of rejection” at the start
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. federal agency responsible for approving drugs and medical devices, granted an emergency clearance for the operation on Dec. 31.
After that, the transplanted heart behaved “very well for several weeks, showing no signs of rejection,” the hospital explained on Wednesday.
The pig has long been considered a potential source of human transplants, with some organs in the two species showing strong similarities.
However, previous transplant attempts have failed due to genetic differences causing rejection or viruses putting patients at risk of infection.