BK Virus New Antibody

Posted by akiamate @akiamate, Jan 19 9:04pm

Hello everyone. I am new here and I had a kidney transplant in January of 2023. The BK virus reared its ugly head round September of last year. I had the ivig injection to lower the virus and it did definitely help. It was very low about a month ago (under 1000) but then it started to go back up (under 1800 which is still low).

Well I heard today that the Mayo Clinic has a trial BK Antibody treatment specifically designed to target the BK virus and clear it out. I could only find a few articles on it and it is said to be around 100X more effective than normal ivig injections because it was engineered to target the virus specifically.

Has anyone ever heard of this? It is definitely fantastic news!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Transplants Support Group.

beracha | @beracha | Jan 20 4:31am

Sorry have not heard of the virus as i am liver recipient. Congrats on your transplant! Glad u r here in the group. Hopefully someone can help answer questions. Welcome!

akiamate | @akiamate | Jan 20 6:22am

Thank you and glad to be here.

Cheryl, Volunteer Mentor | @cehunt57 | Jan 20 11:14am

Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I am 18 years post pancreas transplant. Tests for the BK virus are part of my post transplant standing order labs. It is checked periodically. My understanding is that it can be particularly troublesome for post transplant people because of our immune suppression. Are you going to pursue the BK antibody treatment? Could your transplant coordinator assist with this?

akiamate | @akiamate | Jan 20 11:50am

Yes I am. My doctor actually called me and asked me if I wanted to participate. I agreed because usually antibody treatments are tolerated very well since they are originally created by humans in the first place. The doctor told me that there has not been any adverse effects recorded throughout the early trials and recent trials.

tjdog | @tjdog | Jan 20 2:58pm

I got my second Kidney Transplant in 2019. That’s the first time the BK virus showed up in my blood tests. My Nephrologist has never mentioned the ivig injection. She treats it by reducing my immunosuppressant drug dosage.

Does Medicare cover ivig 100% for transplant recipients? Did you have any side effects?

I had my transplant at Mayo Phoenix, so I will definitely check into the trial.

akiamate | @akiamate | Jan 20 7:47pm

I had Medicare part B at the time I had my ivig injections. Mayo still had to get permission from my commercial insurance (United Healthcare) buy they approved it. I haven’t received a bill for the ivig injections as of yet and that happened back in October of 2023.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Jan 21 9:40pm

@hello1234 started this related discussion a while back:
- Transplant: BK Virus
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/transplant-bk-virus/
She may also be interested in learning about this trial.

@akiamate, I couldn't find a link to the trial. Once you find out more, can you post the information?

hello1234 | @hello1234 | Jan 21 9:52pm

In reply to @colleenyoung "@hello1234 started this related discussion a while back: - Transplant: BK Virus https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/transplant-bk-virus/ She may also..." + (show)

Thank you for including
me @colleenyoung 😊
Yes, I would definitely like to hear more about this new BK antibody clinical trial.
It's very exciting to hear that there may be an antibody for the BK virus.