(New York City, NY - September 26, 2024) - The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) proudly congratulates 34 Lives for securing a $44M grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). This funding will support “No Kidney Left Behind,” the company’s 5-year groundbreaking effort to increase the availability of donor kidneys, a critical step toward transforming kidney transplantation and improving outcomes for thousands of patients suffering from kidney disease.
34 Lives has been at the forefront of innovation in kidney health, and this ARPA-H grant marks a major milestone in their journey to bring cutting-edge technology to market. NKF is especially proud to have played a part in the company's early success. Through our Innovation Fund, NKF provided 34 Lives with seed funding to accelerate the development of their platform, helping to move it from concept to reality more quickly.
“We established the Innovation Fund to foster exactly this kind of transformative change in kidney care,” said Kevin Longino, CEO of the National Kidney Foundation and a kidney transplant recipient. “The goal is to ensure that innovative companies have the resources they need to advance swiftly and ultimately improve patient lives. 34 Lives' recent accomplishment highlights the power of collaboration between the public and private sectors in driving meaningful progress.”
The ARPA-H project, which seeks to dramatically improve donor kidney availability, aligns perfectly with NKF’s mission to enhance the lives of individuals affected by kidney disease. By accelerating new technology to lifesaving transplants, this innovation has the potential to significantly increase the number of kidney transplants and reduce deaths on the waitlist.
“34 Lives’ success with the ARPA-H grant demonstrates the critical role of early-stage investments like those made through NKF’s Innovation Fund,” added Longino. “This is precisely the kind of impact we envisioned when we launched the fund, and we look forward to seeing the positive ripple effects this breakthrough will have on kidney care.”
NKF will continue to champion novel technologies and initiatives that address the unmet needs of kidney patients, from prevention and early detection to transplantation and beyond.
For more information on 34Lives and their transformative project, visit 34Lives.com. To learn more about NKF’s Innovation Fund and other initiatives, visit ">www.kidney.org. To learn more about the ARPA-H grant, visit https://arpa-h.gov/news-and-events/arpa-h-project-seeks-transform-donor-kidney-availability-lifesaving
About Kidney Disease
In the United States, 35 million adults are estimated to have kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney disease (CKD)—and approximately 90 percent don’t know they have it. 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. are at risk for kidney disease. Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and family history. People of Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian American, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. Black or African American people are more than four times as likely as White Americans to have kidney failure.
About the National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation is revolutionizing the fight to save lives by eliminating preventable kidney disease, accelerating innovation for the dignity of the patient experience, and dismantling structural inequities in kidney care, dialysis and transplantation. For more information about NKF, visit www.kidney.org
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