Tacrolimus in Solid Organ Transplantation: A 30-Year Journey, Transplantation, March 2021
Tacrolimus (FK506), discovered in 1984 from Japanese soil fungus, revolutionized organ transplantation. Dr. Thomas Starzl’s pioneering work at the University of Pittsburgh demonstrated dramatic improvements over cyclosporine: liver graft survival increased from 65.5% to 86.2%, with rejection rates dropping to 1-2%. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval followed for liver (1994), kidney (1997), and […]

