Physician-researchers at Emory University in Atlanta have shown an investigational medication, known as LEA29Y (belatacept), is effective in preserving transplanted kidney function while at the same time avoiding the toxic side effects that are common in the currently used long-term, immunosuppressive transplant medications. The pre-clinical research conducted with nonhuman primates at the Yerkes National Primate Research center was an important step in establishing human clinical trials to develop an effective alternative to current anti-rejection therapies. Findings from one of the nonhuman primate studies appear in the March issue of the American Journal of Transplantation, which currently is online and appeared in print on February 21.
