The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended routine National Health Service (NHS) funding for perfusion devices including Bridge to Life’s VitaSmart hypothermic oxygenated perfusion (HOPE) system in preserving deceased donor livers for transplantation.
NICE reveals that it determined that advanced perfusion systems deliver “clear clinical benefits” over traditional static cold storage both clinically and financially, noting that hypothermic oxygenated perfusion was associated with improved graft survival and fewer biliary complications. Other systems included in the body’s recommendation are Aferetica’s PerLife Pro and OrganOx’s metra.
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“NICE’s recommendation marks a milestone towards establishing hypothermic oxygenated perfusion as the standard of care in liver transplantation,” said Bridge to Life’s president and CEO, Don Webber.
Bridge to Life’s inclusion in NICE’s perfusion system recommendations list follows the Georgia-based company’s completion of a $110m Series C equity financing round earlier this month. Funds from the raise will support VitaSmart’s US rollout following the system’s receipt of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) de novo clearance in January 2026.
“Validation from a respected body like NICE provides additional confidence in HOPE’s clinical and economic advantages at a time when US physicians are being introduced to this technology following our FDA de novo clearance,” Webber continued.
Originally developed by Italian medtech company Medica SpA, Bridge to Life acquired the company’s VitaSmart system, which its HOPE liver preservation technique works in combination with, in December 2024.
In combination with VitaSmart, Bridge to Life’s HOPE technique involves the continuously pumping of a solution through the preserved livers at temperatures between 1°C and 10°C. This provides an alternative to standard cold storage methods in which organs must be kept at colder temperatures. HOPE in combination with VitaSmart secured a European CE mark in 2018.
Commenting on NICE’s recommendation, Rebbeca Sanabria Mateos, consultant liver transplant surgeon at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Routine NHS funding for systems like VitaSmart signals a new era for liver transplantation programmes in the UK.
“Having equitable access to efficient, user-friendly perfusion technology allows our surgical teams to safely and confidently utilise extended-criteria donor organs, streamline operating room logistics, and ultimately deliver better outcomes for our patients.”
