The Need

The numbers speak for themselves

  • 4.5 million people
    in the US are living with a diagnosed liver disease2
  • Over 11,000 people
    in the US are currently on the organ transplant wait list for a liver1
  • Approximately 9,000 people
    will receive liver transplants each year1
  • Nearly 400 children
    under the age of 18 are currently on the waitlist for a liver1

A healthy liver has many important functions in the body. Liver disease can be caused by various factors resulting from genetics, the environment or both, which can impede the liver’s ability to function properly. When the damage becomes so severe that it leads liver failure, either suddenly (acute liver failure) or over time (acute-on-chronic liver failure), the only curative treatment option currently available is transplantation.

Despite the hope that transplantation can offer, only a small number of people on the waitlist will ever receive a liver transplant before it’s too late. More than 50,000 people die each year in the United States from liver-related diseases. There is a desperate need for alternate therapies and tools to advance current treatments for liver disease. The greatest need for innovation in these areas is a consistent source of high-quality, primary human hepatocytes. Liver assist devices, transplantation and cell therapy, gene therapy for rare metabolic diseases, and other alternative treatments all require these cells to advance research in each of these areas, as well as to function.

1 – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Data – Organ Procurement and Transplant Network. (2019). Retrieved 28 October 2019, from https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data

2 – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. FASTSTATS – chronic liver disease or cirrhosis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/liver-disease.htm