Better together: a narrative review of academia and medical device industry collaborations toward sustainable kidney care
Marta Arias-Guillén, Juan Carlos Julián Mauro, Abdou Niang, Mónica Landazuri, Alfonso Sánchez, Caroline E StigantAbstract
Background
Chronic kidney disease is a leading cause of death and disability globally, with the greatest burden and most limited access to kidney therapies in low- and middle-income countries. Environmentally sustainable kidney care is increasingly recognized as essential. Structured, patient-informed collaboration between academia and the kidney medical device industry holds potential toward solving these problems.
Methods
We conducted a narrative review of partnerships between academia and industry in environmentally sustainable kidney care. A scoping search of PubMed, Google Scholar, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library was combined with targeted grey-literature searches of key organizations. Eligible sources describe partnership structures, governance, financing, environmental or social outcomes, or lessons learned. Findings were synthesized thematically, informed by patient perspective, then interpreted using a United Nations sustainable development partnership framework.
Results
Existing initiatives and consortia such as the International Society of Nephrology’s GREEN-K, the Kidney Health Initiative and KitNewCare illustrate the potential of multi-stakeholder collaboration to advance sustainable kidney care. Patient organizations, notably the European Kidney Patients’ Federation, emphasise that environmental initiatives must align with treatment quality, patient autonomy and equity. Industry-led innovations include water- and energy-efficient technologies, life-cycle assessment of processes and/or consumables, lower-impact concentrates and operational optimizations. Key barriers include heterogeneous regulatory requirements, limited materials circularity, public procurement that prioritizes cost over sustainability, and financial investments associated with device innovation. We envision partnering opportunities to both improve access to, and environmental sustainability of, kidney therapies.
Conclusions
Achieving low-carbon, resilient and equitable kidney care requires academia–industry partnerships that embed meaningful patient involvement, position industry as co-creator, and align incentives around shared clinical and environmental goals. Structured partnering frameworks can support transparent governance, harmonised metrics and scalable green innovation across the kidney medical device sector.