Many kidney candidates have high antibody levels (from transfusions, being on dialysis for many years, or old transplants) that make finding a compatible donor difficult or unlikely. For highly sensitized patients, we implement a process called “desensitization,” which uses Immunoglobulin infusions to quiet these antibodies causing the sensitization.
This lowers the immune barriers keeping you on the waitlist, helps open the door to a wider range of potential donors, and reduces organ rejection right after surgery.
Because lungs are so sensitive, many programs avoid patients who even have a small number of antibodies (sometimes called “antibody avoidance”). While desensitization to reduce the antibodies is an effective technique, it’s still an uncommon practice. This is where LUX Infusion goes the extra mile: for appropriate patients, we provide the immune workup needed to identify antibody barriers, then administer the specialized Immunoglobulin infusions needed to treat those antibodies directly.
This allows patients who were previously told they were “unmatchable” to safely move forward with a life-saving lung transplant.
After a heart transplant, the primary clinical challenge is preventing “Antibody-Mediated Rejection” (AMR), where the immune system identifies the new heart as a threat. We carefully measure your blood for “Donor Specific Antibodies” to provide precise, proactive infusions to neutralize these antibodies, significantly reducing the risk of sudden rejection and supporting your long-term recovery.
While transplant infusion therapies require precise administration and close clinical oversight, we also recognize that patients often achieve the best outcomes when healing in a low-stress environment.
That’s because we believe strongly in delivering the same level of clinician-led care whether it’s on-site or from the comfort of patients’ homes. We consult with patients and their transplant team to determine what fits best considering their clinical needs, lifestyle, and the specific requirements of a desensitization or maintenance protocol.
Step 1
The journey begins when your transplant center sends us a referral. We make sure to reach out with a welcome call within 4 hours, in which we start the intake process and begin navigating complex insurance authorizations and financial assistance, advocating for you every step of the way.
Step 2
We go beyond just delivering infusions by working directly with your transplant team and specialized Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) laboratories to obtain a deep understanding of your immune system.
By getting specialized bloodwork like Panel Reactive Antibody (PRA) levels and Mean Fluorescence Intensity (MFI), we can see exactly how many potential donors your immune system might currently reject and identify the specific hurdles standing between you and a donor match.
Step 3
Once your immune map is complete, we initiate specialized desensitization treatments. The goal is to “quiet” the antibodies that are blocking your path to surgery. This phase is meticulously timed and monitored to ensure that when a donor organ becomes available, your body is prepared to accept it rather than see it as a threat.
Step 4
As your antibody levels stabilize, we stay in close contact with your transplant surgeons. We coordinate the logistics of your ongoing infusions so that your clinical readiness is maintained. Our goal is to ensure that when you get the call for your transplant, your “immune shield” is in the optimal position for a successful surgery.
Step 5
The need for protection doesn’t stop once your surgery is over. In the critical months following your transplant, we provide specialized therapies to prevent and treat common infections that can threaten a new organ, such as CMV and Viremia (BK). We also keep a close eye on your overall recovery and comfort, providing supportive therapies like hydration infusions or anti-nausea medication when the moment calls for it.
Step 6
Even if your pre-surgery desensitization was 100% successful, your immune system is dynamic, so the threat of organ rejection (called “Antibody-Mediated Rejection” or AMR) must be proactively addressed.
We continue to coordinate with specialty HLA labs to track new antibodies formed against the graft, and intervene with biologics or maintenance Immunoglobulin therapy before organ damage occurs.
Step 7
A transplant is a lifelong clinical journey, and your immune profile can shift the longer you live with your new organ. This is why we believe it’s important to remain your clinical anchor along that journey, providing the long-term monitoring and maintenance infusions needed to protect your new organ from chronic rejection.
Most infusion companies deliver a simple service: they administer a treatment and send you home. LUX Infusion is different.
We provide an end-to-end clinical ecosystem designed specifically for the high-stakes transplant journey. We handle everything—complex insurance authorizations, financial assistance, mapping your immune system to improve transplant eligibility and success, close communication with your transplant team, and monitoring your response long-term after surgery to lower risk of rejection.
Your transplant center’s lab is excellent at identifying what your antibodies are, but we specialize in the intensive work of changing them.
Most transplant programs are not set up to manage the daily, high-dose infusion schedules required for complex desensitization. We act as the clinical engine that executes the plan your surgeons create, providing the administrative and medical focus necessary to move you from “unmatchable” to “ready.”
Think of desensitization as a “tuning down” of your immune system’s alarm.
If it’s too sensitive, it will identify a new organ as a threat and attack it. Desensitization uses a standardized, high-dose Immunoglobulin protocol to calm the specific antibodies that are at the root of this phenomenon. By lowering these immune barriers, we create a “window of opportunity” for your body to safely accept a transplant that might have otherwise been impossible.
Our goal is to operate as a seamless extension of your transplant team.
We closely communicate data, like your antibody trends and lab results, directly with your surgeons and coordinators, ensuring your medical team has the precise information they need to make the best decisions for your surgery.
This is the blood work we use to map your immune system.
Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) are the unique “barcode” on your cells that your immune system uses to identify “self” vs. “non-self.” Mean Fluorescence Intensity (MFI) is a score that tells us the level of alert your immune system has against those markers. We monitor these numbers meticulously to ensure your “protective shield” is at the right level for surgery and long-term recovery.
Antibody avoidance is a passive strategy where a transplant program waits for a donor that your immune system won’t attack.
For highly sensitized patients, this can mean years of waiting. Alternatively, desensitization is an active strategy. We use standardized Immunoglobulin therapy to proactively lower your antibody levels, thus widening your pool of potential donors and significantly increasing your chances of finding a match sooner.
The transplant journey involves balancing your immune system to prevent rejection, which can make it harder for your body to fight off other illnesses.
This is why we don’t stop at anti-rejection therapies, but rather actively identify the need for and administer anti-infective treatments to ensure that, while we are lowering your “bad” antibodies, we are still keeping your overall defenses strong.
This is where our approach to long-term vigilance is critical.
If we detect a rise in antibodies (which we monitor closely), we can often intervene preemptively with specialized infusions to neutralize those antibodies before they can damage your new organ.
Yes. We understand the transplant journey is difficult and take every opportunity to make sure your experience is as comfortable as possible.
We’ll consult with your transplant team to determine what infusion setting fits best (at home or in one of our private infusion locations) considering your clinical needs and lifestyle.
Transplant medications are among the most complex to get approved.
Our dedicated Benefits and Appeals Team proactively advocates your case, handling insurance authorizations and connecting you with financial assistance programs when they are available.