According to Donate Life America, over 90,000 people in the United States are waiting for a kidney donation. Roosevelt V. Boone III is one of them. Since Boone was found to have high antibodies, a kidney transplant will require additional medical and financial considerations, in addition to logistics. There is a process for enrolling in transplant programs to increase the likelihood of a match. Boone mentioned that he will incur out-of-pocket expenses than what his insurance will cover where his transplant can be conducted—including outside of Baltimore, Maryland. The transplant center location could be in New York, Washington, D.C. or Baltimore.

Boone’s Journey

High blood pressure caused the initial problem that left Boone needing a kidney and ultimately coping with end-stage renal disease. Boone had a kidney transplant that was conducted at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2011. Blood work determined that a virus took him down an unfortunate path.

 “I was doing everything right, but the virus caused me to lose the functioning of that kidney, and I got into a particular program to get another transplant, but my antibodies were too high,” Boone said in a previous interview.

Boone strives to maintain his health while enduring dialysis treatment. In the future, he hopes to be considered to receive a medication called imlifidase, a possible desensitization treatment for adult transplant patients who have high antibodies.

Imlifidase

“There’s a drug that they expect the FDA to open to everyone who qualifies beginning in December of 2026,” Boone said. “This drug has a high rate of success.”

Boone now has Kidney Solutions: A Network of Transplant Experience (https://kidneysolutions.org) on his side, too. Jullie Hoggan, MS, Board Chair and Transplant Education & Support, has been working as a transplant professional for five years. She shared insight about imlifidase, an antibody-cleaving enzyme. It temporarily breaks down the IgG antibodies that could attack a donated kidney. This may create a brief window in which a highly sensitized patient like Boone can receive a kidney transplant that otherwise might not have been possible, according to Hoggan.

“After a previous transplant, pregnancy, or a blood transfusion (and sometimes for unknown reasons), some people develop high levels of antibodies against human leukocyte antigens, or HLA. These antibodies can make it extremely difficult to find a donor kidney that their immune system will accept. Patients in this situation are called ‘highly sensitized,’" said Hoggan.

Imlifidase is not currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It has been studied in clinical trials in the United States and has conditional marketing authorization in Europe for certain highly sensitized adult kidney transplant candidates.

“Hansa Biopharma submitted a Biologics License Application for Imlifidase to the FDA in December 2025. The FDA accepted the application for review in February 2026 and assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, action date of December 19, 2026. This means the FDA is expected to take action on the application by that date, although it does not guarantee that the medication will be approved,” said Hoggan.

Kidney Solutions

Boone receives support and free services through Kidney Solutions. Members are offered access to a weekly online support group, one-on-one peer mentoring, education, and assistance with a search for a living kidney donor. Hoggan said Kidney Solutions’ goal is to support Boone while he waits for a kidney transplant and to help him communicate his need to people who may be interested in learning more about living kidney donation.

“Kidney Solutions can also support people who are interested in donating a kidney but do not have a particular recipient in mind. This is known as non-directed living kidney donation,” said Hoggan.

A Circle of Support

Quinten Davis, Lisa Arrington and Al Price rally around Boone to help facilitate and support his effort to secure a kidney.

“It entails some fundraising and some awareness in the community and just doing whatever it takes to support him,” said Davis.

Arrington added that she is always willing to assist however she can while offering wraparound services for Boone.

Boone, who has been an active community volunteer, needs additional financial support during this phase of preparation for a life-saving kidney transplant. Funds raised will cover travel, accommodation, meals, and medical expenses. If his transplant occurs in New York, he estimates that the cost he will incur will be $20,000. Boone would have to stay for four to six weeks. He is still paying for dental expenses and a special plan (Medicare Supplement Plan F).

“Keep the faith, brother!” a GoFundMe supporter wrote on Boone’s fundraiser account three years ago.

And that is exactly what Boone is doing.

Donations may be made via https://gofund.me/272203bee.