Paragonix Technologies Inc.’s Kidneyvault portable renal perfusion system managed to preserve and enable the reallocation of a donor kidney for more than 29 hours, despite prolonged ischemic time, multiple handoffs and two commercial flights. Throughout the period, the Kidneyvault maintained stable hypothermic preservation, preventing the organ from being discarded and allowing it to be transplanted into a patient.

Organox Ltd.’s normothermic machine perfusion device, Metra, has been cleared by the U.S. FDA for use during air transport. The greenlight from the regulatory body paves the way for the broader use of donor organs that might otherwise be discarded, as the Metra system circulates oxygen and nutrient rich perfusate through the organ at near-body temperature, extending preservation times.

After making a significant strategic investment in Oxganox Ltd. earlier this year, Terumo Corp. quickly returned to buy the organ preservation company. On Aug. 25, the companies announced that Terumo would acquire Organox for $1.5 billion, marking Terumo’s entry into the organ transplant sector. The transaction is one of the largest exits ever for the U.K. med-tech sector.

The U.S. FDA cleared Paragonix Technologies Inc.’s Kidneyvault portable renal perfusion system, which combines digital monitoring capabilities and hypothermic perfusion technology to preserve donor kidneys during transportation.

Organox Ltd. gained approval from Health Canada for its Metra system for use during liver transplantation. The system utilizes normothermic machine perfusion to maintain donor livers under physiologic conditions prior to transplantation.

Getinge AB agreed to acquire Paragonix Technologies Inc. for $477 million, including upfront and earn out payments. The deal marks Getinge’s entry into the global organ preservation and transportation market, a rapidly advancing field driven by rising transplant volumes, technological innovations and evolving clinical practices.

Magenta Medical Ltd. raised $105 million in financing that will go toward clinical trials and to secure U.S FDA approval for its Elevate system, the world's smallest heart pump. The substantial investment haul was “a vote of confidence” from the investor community for what the company is doing, David Israeli, CEO of Magenta told BioWorld.

Paragonix Technologies Inc. expanded access to its U.S. FDA-cleared Baroguard donor lung preservation system following a successful limited release with a handful of top transplant centers. In addition to critical temperature control, the new system provides active airway management to keep donor lungs in the best condition possible.

Paragonix Technologies Inc. will soon release performance data from sterile, temperature-controlled systems for transporting donor organs to recipient patients, this after a breath-taking transport last year of a donor lung and heart from Alaska to Washington and North Carolina. Paragonix’s organ preservation technology provides thermal protection for donor organs for up to 40 hours, making them ideal for transportation over long distances, said the company.