Dawn of a New Era: The World's First Bioengineered Liver Treatment

Harper ClarkJun 24, 2025
A detailed medical illustration showing the `miroliverELAP` system: a translucent, bioengineered liver connected by tubes to an external blood circuit, highlighting the flow of blood being cleansed by the device.
  • A Historic First: In a groundbreaking procedure, the world's first patient has been treated with a bioengineered external liver, marking a pivotal moment in medical history.
  • Revolutionary Tech: The miroliverELAP system uses a decellularized pig liver, re-infused with living human cells, to function as a temporary, external support organ.
  • A Lifeline for the Ineligible: This innovation offers a new sliver of hope for patients with acute liver failure who cannot receive a transplant—a group facing a devastating 30% mortality rate2, 3.

For a patient on the brink, with acute liver failure and no hope of a transplant, the clock was ticking. But in a quiet hospital room in Utah, the future of medicine arrived. In a world-first clinical trial, doctors at Intermountain Health connected the patient to miroliverELAP, a revolutionary bioengineered liver assist device developed by United Therapeutics subsidiary, Miromatrix.

This isn't science fiction. The device is a marvel of bioengineering: a porcine liver scaffold, stripped of its original animal cells and meticulously reseeded with human liver and endothelial cells. Functioning outside the body, it takes on the life-sustaining work of a failing liver.

This procedure represents a historic leap, the first human trial of any manufactured organ alternative. "This first of its kind treatment represents a historic achievement," said an official from Miromatrix, a sentiment echoed by Intermountain Health. For the tens of thousands of patients hospitalized each year with acute liver failure, this marks the dawn of a new era2, 3. While this is just the first step in a Phase 1 study, it signals a profound shift in our fight against organ failure, moving one step closer to a future where organ shortages no longer cost lives.


References

  1. ir.unither.com
  2. news.intermountainhealth.org
  3. www.businesswire.com
  4. ir.unither.com
  5. www.webull.ca
  6. www.marketscreener.com
  7. www.businesswire.com
  8. www.ksl.com

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