A Glasgow university has launched a pioneering kidney transplant project as a social enterprise.

A joint effort by four European research institutions, KEPsoft Collaborative is the first not-for-profit social-purpose venture to emerge from the University of Glasgow.

The initiative aims to tackle the dire consequences of kidney failure and the chronic shortage of living donors for transplants, which offer better long-term survival rates compared to dialysis.

Read more: Glasgow college praised by MSP for widening access work

KEPsoft Collaborative's founding members are Portuguese research institute INESC TEC, the Budapest-based HUN-REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies (KRTK), Óbuda University, and the University of Glasgow.

The company's software, developed by its founding members, has already been used to optimise the number of matching donors within national kidney exchange programmes (KEPs).

KEPs aim to boost living donations by allowing those needing a kidney transplant, who have a willing but medically incompatible donor, to 'swap' their donor with another recipient's.

Non-directed donors can also initiate chains of transplants, benefiting multiple recipients.

Mel Anderson, head of commercialisation at the University of Glasgow, said: “The KEPsoft software platform has the potential to transform lives by significantly improving the number of kidney transplants through optimising donor-to-patient matching."

Algorithms developed by Professor David Manlove and his colleagues have been used to find optimal solutions for the UK's Living Kidney Sharing Scheme.

Between 2008 and 2024, these algorithms are estimated to have resulted in 600 more kidney transplants than the previous algorithm used.

More information about the project can be found at https://kepsoft.org/.

KEPsoft Collaborative plans to initially focus on European transplant organisations but also aims to engage with organisations outside Europe.

Professor David Manlove of the University of Glasgow, and scientific adviser to KEPsoft Collaborative, said: “Beyond the founding institutions, the project has enjoyed wide collaboration including the ENCKEP COST Action (funded by the European Union) which had 28 participating countries.  

"KEPsoft has also had input from stakeholders from a range of disciplines, including policymakers, clinicians, surgeons, nephrologists, immunologists, computer scientists and economists."

Vijay Luthra, chief executive officer of KEPsoft Collaborative, and a renal transplant recipient himself, said: "The social enterprise model allows us to focus on the needs of the most important stakeholders, namely kidney patients waiting for a transplant.

“Our goal is to make kidney transplantation more accessible to patients around Europe and beyond, and to that end we are most grateful for the financial and operational support provided by The Challenges Group Ventures Lab and by Community Enterprise in Scotland (CEIS).”