A patient who waited 14 years for a kidney transplant has paid tribute to her hospital teams, and the importance of a newly approved drug, which has changed her life.
Lorraine Price, 59, was being treated at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, for adult polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), an inherited condition that causes cysts to develop in the kidneys. Lorraine’s condition was made more complicated because she had also developed antibodies against common tissue types, which meant that finding a suitable kidney donation was more complicated.
In November 2025, she was transferred to the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust’s (UHL) specialist renal transplant team at the Glenfield Hospital, where she was able to receive a new drug that made her transplant possible.
Her condition meant she was at high risk of her transplant failing, but in 2025 Imlifidase was approved for clinical use in the NHS. The pioneering drug destroys the body’s antibodies long enough to enable a transplant to take place.
So far, only nine patients across the UK have benefited from the new treatment option, allowing them to receive a transplant, and the Glenfield Hospital team has performed two of those transplants. One of those patients was Lorraine, who said: “I’m very grateful for everything that has been done for me. It will change my life forever, and I’m feeling better and have a lot more energy than I did. I had been on dialysis for 13 years, and that messes with your mental health. I can’t put into words how that makes you feel. But now I can go on holiday for more than two days at a time!
“I had to give up work three years ago, and I hope to now go back at some point. My experience at the Glenfield Hospital has been wonderful. It’s so clean, all of the staff were amazing. If you have any worries, they are right there helping you and making sure you have all the information you need.”
Mr Atul Bagul, Head of Transplant at UHL, carried out the surgery. He said: “If we had not had this drug, we would not have been able to do this transplant, and now we can help people like Lorraine get back to their life. It is not suitable for all our patients, but it can help some people who have been stuck on the transplant waiting list
“Not all transplant sites offer this drug, so we worked closely with colleagues at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, led by Professor Nitya Krishnan, and then with our own retrieval team. Ultimately, the success is due to strong teamwork across our Trust and with our partners.
“Normally a patient will stay in hospital for four or five days after a transplant, but because Lorraine received this new drug, she stayed in for around 25 days. We are so pleased that she can now get back to enjoying her life.”
More than 6,900 people in the UK are currently waiting for a kidney transplant, underscoring the importance of centres with high transplant activity. UHL remains one of the country’s busiest kidney transplant centres, completing around 125 procedures over the last year, and continuing to build on its strong track record by working with partnership such as University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust to improve access to services.
To find out more about organ donation and how to register your decision, please visit the NHS Organ donation and transplantation service’s website.