The shelf life of a sterile organ on ice is a matter of hours. Specialized pumping devices can extend the organ shelf life to a few days.
A sophisticated system for distribution of xenografts will be required.
While similar in concept to human organs, the differences in xenotransplantation offers a sizable business opportunity.
Initially in clinical trials, xenograft organs will likely be shipped by air courier. At up to $20,000 per round trip charter, this will not scale. Beyond cost, the number of flights needed at projected volume will exceed the capacity of most airports.
While conceptually similar to today’s human organ transplant industry, the situation is transposed. Instead of many locations where human organs are available then used at one of a few local transplant centers, xenotransplantation will have a fixed location for production servicing regional transplant centers. So the solution to the distribution challenges will differ from that used now.