Trestle Biotherapeutics Wins Prestigious KidneyX Prize

June 12, 2023 |

3 min read

Trestle Biotherapeutics received a $1 million prize from the KidneyX Innovation Accelerator through the organization’s Artificial Kidney Prize program.

San Diego-based Trestle Bio named one of KidneyX Artificial Kidney Prize Phase 2 winners

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Trestle Biotherapeutics today received a $1 million prize from the KidneyX Innovation Accelerator through the organization’s Artificial Kidney Prize program. Trestle is one of eight Artificial Kidney Prize Phase 2 winners announced today.

Trestle was recognized for their innovative approach in developing bioengineered kidney tissues for patients living with kidney failure through the integration of cutting-edge techniques in stem cell biology and 3D biofabrication. The San Diego-based company is developing a functional, stem cell-based tissue designed to be administered to kidney failure patients to restore a level of renal function sufficient to eliminate kidney dialysis dependency.

“Trestle has embarked on an effort that is really ambitious, but the hundreds of thousands of patients living with kidney failure in the U.S. alone deserve better than the burdensome standard-of-care that was developed nearly 70 years ago,” said Trestle co-founder and CEO Ben Shepherd, Ph.D. “We believe that the medical system can do much better than dialysis for people living with kidney failure, and we hope that our technology will do just that.”

Globally, there are more than 800 million patients who suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD). In the U.S., there are 125,000 new diagnoses of kidney failure each year, and approximately 600,000 patients depend on dialysis, a technology developed more than 65 years ago, for survival. The costs to care for CKD patients in the U.S. exceed $100 billion annually.

KidneyX, a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), is accelerating innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases.

“The recognition by the team at KidneyX is fantastic and the financial support the Phase 2 prize provides is really impactful to our efforts to bioengineer kidney tissues that could one day replace dialysis. We’re equally excited to be partnering with leaders at HHS and ASN. This is an exceptional group and a unique opportunity for us to engage with the agencies leading such important work for patients with diseases of the kidney,” Dr. Shepherd continued.

Of the work being done at Trestle, John Sedor, M.D., KidneyX Chair and nephrologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said, “We are thrilled to support ambitious, forward-thinking solutions for kidney failure patients like the ones being developed at Trestle Bio. This space is where KidneyX can step in and help accelerate their progress in meaningful ways.”

Trestle will use the prize funds to advance their pre-clinical R&D efforts to scale early prototype designs and demonstrate increasing levels of functionality within those bioengineered tissues.

About Trestle Biotherapeutics

Trestle Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a pre-clinical stage company developing bioengineered therapies for patients living with end stage renal disease. Once implanted, these bioengineered stem cell-derived tissues will get patients off dialysis, delay their need for transplantation, and one day become replacement organs. Learn more at trestlebio.com.

About The Artificial Kidney Prize

The Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX), a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), is accelerating innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases.

The Artificial Kidney Prize is a competition to accelerate the development of continuous kidney replacement therapies that provide transformational treatment options beyond current dialysis methods. For this competition, artificial kidneys may be wearable, implantable, bioengineered, developed as a xenotransplant or chimera organ, or other approaches not yet conceived.