Organ preservation company Paragonix Technologies has partnered with the US Nationwide Organ Recovery Transport Alliance (NORA) to launch a new donor organ courier service designed to ensure donations are distributed more equitably.

The partnership will see the establishment of a logistic networks pairing Paragonix’s suite of organ preservation devices with the organ transport company utilising commercial flights, to ensure organs are delivered across the US.

Lisa Anderson, CEO of Paragonix, said: “We are excited for the clinical community to utilize Paragonix devices to their full potential, including in combination with commercial air transportation.

“The potential that commercial flights represent to the field at large is extraordinary. Now, recovering an organ from across the country can cost the equivalent of travelling to a neighbouring state. We can help minimize greenhouse gas emissions by reducing reliance on private jet carriers, which will be one of the most significant environmental improvements ever brought to transplantation.”

The partnership came about following the introduction of the president's signing into law the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, which brought with it a provision to develop best practices regarding the travel of donor organs in the main cabin of a commercial plane. One of the devices used as part of the partnership will be Paragonix’s own BAROguard Donor Lung Preservation System with NORA’s Care-Custody-Control program taking care of customs and transport.

Don Jones, Co-Founder of NORA said: “Our team specialises in the management and logistics of organ recovery of all kinds yet have never seen lungs requested to travel on a commercial flight utilising advanced organ preservation. We are glad to support this endeavour with our best-in-class couriers and dispatch system to improve equity of organ access across the nation using the latest advancements in preservation technology by Paragonix.” Among some of Paragonix’s other devices is the newly announced PancreasPak Organ Preservation System, claimed to be the first pancreas preservation system to have been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). At the same time, the company has also announced the successful completion of the GUARDIAN-Heart trial.