Novartis Scientists Exaggerate Success of Pig-Baboon Heart Transplant Uncaged Campaigns News Release 14 June 2001 The Organ Farm documentary broadcast Sunday 17 June on ITV in the UK shows exclusive footage of a baboon (numbered X201m by the researchers) transplanted with a pig heart. The experiment took place at the controversial Huntingdon Life Sciences' laboratory in Cambridgeshire, England in 1998. Imutran (then a subsidiary of Novartis) researchers, including Dr David White (Director of Research), described the results of the experiment in a paper published in the Journal of Heart & Lung Transplant in February 2000. They claimed "Throughout the first 38 post-transplant days the baboon was active and energetic, moving freely about his enclosure." But this is not the picture revealed in detailed scientific records of the baboon's last days, now published on the website accompanying the American edition of Organ Farm shown earlier this year. Two weeks after the transplant experiment, researchers noted he was: "Quiet and huddled, reluctant to move, some abdominal breathing seen, slightly unsteady." His condition rallied but in the last 10 days of life he was often only "occasionally active". None of this is recorded in the company's published data. Neither is the fact that his pig heart had astonishingly grown to three times its original weight by the time he was eventually sacrificed. Indeed, the five other animals in the experiment lasted, on average, just 10 days - which again is not mentioned in the paper. Imutran released video footage of the baboon on day 25 and 35 of the experiment. It is not known whether this footage was selected by Imutran to give the best impression, or whether these days were the only times the baboon was recorded. X201m collapsed and died on day 39. This experiment is still being promoted as the most successful in history. Yet it was a one-off that occurred over three years ago. Dan Lyons, who was interviewed for Organ Farm, comments: 'The "breakthroughs" heralded on the Organ Farm programme by Novartis deserve greater scrutiny. Clearly, Imutran have been economical with the truth. They also have a track record of making wildly 'optimistic' predictions about pig organ transplants. The recent cloning of pigs signals the latest desperate attempt at achieving what amounts to biotechnological alchemy. In the past, Imutran scientists themselves have acknowledged that this intense genetic engineering can cause illnesses in the unfortunate pigs as their genomes become disrupted. Presumably, they have continued to destroy hundreds of primates in the US and Canada in cruel, traumatic and destructive tests of these organs - but X201m still stands out as the primate that clung to life the longest. We believe, and the evidence supports this, that pig organ transplants are modern science's Battle of the Somme: Novartis have adopted the role of indifferent, incompetent generals, and thousands of pigs and primates as the cannon fodder. Now is the time for an armistice - a time to explore the non-violent route to dealing with organ failure through new initiatives in human organ donation, preventative health and improvements in surgical repair of organs. These are the views of the UK's expert advisory committee (UKXIRA), and we urge Novartis to take a more reasoned and balanced view.' For interviews and more information contact Dan Lyons on +44 0114 2722220 or 07799117694/5