A Dollar Too Far
Novartis spent more than $100 million, maybe a lot more (Miller, 146), during the years between the mid-eighties and 2005 on xenotransplatation, "the use of live animal tissues and organs to heal sick people (Miller, x)." Ending in 2005, Novartis' investment over three years in the final xeno company they supported, Immerge BioTherapeutics, totalled $30 million. During the period, Novartis never saw a return on its investment.
With all the stimulus funding sloshing around our economy, billions of dollars seem more the norm, but Novartis' $100 million was a lot to them. For their money, they received significant results. Specially grown pigs with special genes were able to provide kidneys and hearts to baboons. The organs weren't immediately rejected. One kidney, in fact, lasted more than two months (Miller, 207).
Immerge and companies like it were established because there is a need for organs. Human donations aren't keeping up with demand. It seems there might be a calculation here to ascertain if federal spending on xeno projects makes sense. Totalling the lifetime of expenses for the normal kidney dialysis patient might give some indication whether additional NIH investments makes sense. We all know the answer. It all makes sense. The problem is "Where's the money to come from?" Not an easy question.
Reference
Miller, G. Wayne. The Xeno Chronicles. Two Years on the Frontie of Medicine Inside Harvard's Transplant Research Lab. PublicAffairs. 2005.