ARTICLE
NJ Sharing Network, the non-profit, federally designated organ procurement organization responsible for the recovery of organs and tissue in the state, has earned national recognition for its IgG subtype assay, an innovative breakthrough conceived and invented by Prakash Rao, PhD, MBA, FACHE, HCLD, Vice President and Chief Laboratory Officer and his team, that significantly enhances precise crossmatching between donors and transplant recipients to ultimately save more lives. NJ Sharing Network earned the Fierce Innovation Award – Life Sciences Edition 2020, a peer reviewed awards program from the publisher of Fierce Biotech and Fierce Pharma, produced by Questex. The competition highlights companies that demonstrated innovative solutions, technologies, and services that have the potential to make the greatest impact for biotech and pharma companies. “We are honored to be recognized with the prestigious, national Fierce Innovation Award,” said Joe Roth, president and CEO of NJ Sharing Network. “Our Transplant Laboratory professionals, under the leadership of Dr. Prakash Rao, are committed to transforming transplantology by focusing on solutions that enable more people to receive life-saving transplants faster, increase the quality of life for transplant recipients, and maximize the use of donated organs. The IgG subtype assay is our team’s latest breakthrough that will potentially save thousands of additional lives each year with widespread adoption.” NJ Sharing Network’s state-of-the-art Transplant Laboratory performs histocompatibility testing for deceased and living organ donors and recipients. The Transplant Laboratory also plays a critical role in the pre and post-transplant evaluation, and successful transplantation of highly sensitized individuals who would be difficult to treat under general conditions. According to Dr. Rao, the IgG subtype assay is the “eHarmony of transplants” that can identify and distinguish between the presence of complement activating and non-complement activating antibodies. “Being able to make a precise crossmatch between donors and recipients is a critical test,” said Dr. Rao. “We invented a cocktail reagent that we can now use in the crossmatch that enables a more accurate and specific interpretation of donor-recipient compatibility. The assay was confirmed in a study of 20 kidneys, eight hearts and one lung of patients that would not have been considered suitable for a transplant under standard testing. All of the patients are now doing well and a U.S. patent has already been issued with international patents currently in process.” The Fierce Innovation Award program’s applications were reviewed by an exclusive panel of executives from major biotech and pharma companies including Astellas, Accenture, AstraZeneca, Angiocrine Bioscience, Biotech Research Group, NIHR Clinical Research Network, Medidata Solutions and PPD. All applications were evaluated based on the following criteria: effectiveness, technical innovation, competitive advantage, financial impact, and true innovation. A full list of judges can be found at https://fiercelifesciencesawards.secure-platform.com/a/page/judges. NJ Sharing Network is dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation. The non-profit organization is responsible for the recovery and placement of donated organs and tissue for the nearly 4,000 New Jersey residents waiting for a life-saving transplant. headquartered in New Providence, NJ, the organization, selected by NJBiz as one of the state’s “Best Places to Work” for the third consecutive year, is also part of the national recovery system, serving the nearly 115,000 people on the national waiting list. To learn more, get involved and register as an organ and tissue donor, visit NJSharingNetwork.org.