Donor Network West

What Donor Network West does

Donor Network West is a federally designated nonprofit Organ Procurement Organization (OPO), established in 1987 and headquartered in San Ramon, California. As the third-largest OPO in the United States, it holds the exclusive federal franchise for recovering and placing deceased-donor organs, eyes, and tissues across 45 counties in northern California and northern Nevada, serving a population of more than 13 million residents. The organization coordinates donor referrals through hospital partnerships, drives donor registration via DMV partnerships and the Donate Life America registry, and supports donor families through aftercare programs. In 2025 it coordinated 465 organ donations yielding 1,269 transplanted organs and 1,114 lives saved, 2,910 tissue donors (including 397 in the new Birth Tissue Donation Program), and 5,544 research donations. Operations are funded by fees from transplant centers and healthcare facilities, supplemented by charitable contributions through the wholly-owned Donor Network West Foundation.

The organization's product surface extends beyond clinical organ procurement into a research supply business built on two proprietary assets. Precision-Cut Lung Slices (PCLS) is a process for preparing ex vivo human lung tissue using heated agarose infusion that preserves alveolar architecture and cellular function, cryopreservable for up to 14 days and shippable nationally; approximately 200 donated lungs are processed annually. The Donor Network West Metadata Inventory (DNWMI) is a structured repository of more than 1 billion non-PHI data points across 16 clinical categories (medical/social history, CBC, DCD information, culture results, ABG, chemistry, diagnostics, serology, hemodynamics, brainstem data, and others), licensed to researchers for predictive and analytic studies. The VITAL Core partnership with UCSF, established in 2021, scaled from 8 to 42 participating laboratories and from 15 to 43 tissue types by 2024, and is credited with enabling $28.6 million in research funding and 14+ peer-reviewed publications in journals including Cell and Science.

Revenue mechanics are typical of nonprofit OPOs: organ acquisition charges paid by transplant centers and hospitals, fee-for-service tissue procurement, research sample fees (e.g., PCLS orders), and philanthropic contributions routed through the Foundation. Distribution is regional for clinical transplant placement (regulated by CMS) and national for research products. The customer base is structurally diversified across hundreds of hospitals, dozens of transplant centers, more than 20 academic and foundation research partners, DMV registration touchpoints, and millions of registered individual donors. Geographic concentration within the federal franchise is the principal structural exposure, partially offset by national shipping reach for research products.

Name

Donor Network West

Legal name

Donor Network West

Website

https://donornetworkwest.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Donor Network West is a federally designated nonprofit Organ Procurement Organization, the third-largest in the U.S., that recovers and places organs, eyes, and tissues across 45 counties in northern California and northern Nevada, and supplies human tissue samples and metadata to academic research institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Organ and Tissue Donation Services

NAICS

Blood and Organ Banks (621991), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

akta.pro primary industry

Blood, Organ & Tissue Donation Organizations (BPAGACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Federated Giving Organizations (e.g., United Way-type) (BPAGAKAG)

Keywords

• Organ procurement services
• Tissue donation coordination
• Transplant recovery services
• Birth tissue donation
• Biomedical research tissue

Headquarters

HQ city

San Ramon

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Organ and Tissue Procurement Services: As a federally-designated nonprofit Organ Procurement Organization, Donor Network West recovers organs and tissues from deceased donors for transplantation and research. The organization is funded through fees charged to transplant centers and healthcare facilities for organ recovery and placement services. Operating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 1987, the organization also relies on charitable contributions through its Donor Network West Foundation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Donor Network West is a federally-designated nonprofit Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) that recovers organs, eyes, and tissues from deceased donors for transplantation and research across 45 counties in northern California and northern Nevada. The organization coordinates the full donation workflow with hospitals and transplant centers and additionally supplies research-grade tissue products (Precision-Cut Lung Slices and a billion-point metadata inventory) to academic and industry researchers. Charitable contributions are solicited through the affiliated Donor Network West Foundation to support its mission.

Product overview

Donor Network West operates as a federally-designated Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) offering a unified service portfolio centered on organ, eye, and tissue donation for transplantation and research. The core service coordinates donation recovery across 45 counties in northern California and northern Nevada. Supporting this core are specialized research products including Precision-Cut Lung Slices (PCLS) for ex vivo pulmonary research and the Metadata Inventory (DNWMI) containing over 1 billion data points for analytics research. The 2025 Birth Tissue Donation Program expands tissue donation options by enabling expectant mothers to donate umbilical cord and placental tissue. The organization also operates the VITAL Core research partnership program with UCSF, facilitating rapid tissue sample delivery to academic and industry researchers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Organ and Tissue Donation Services The organization's core service as a federally-designated Organ Procurement Organization (OPO), coordinating organ, eye, and tissue recovery for transplantation and research, serving 45 counties in northern California and northern Nevada.
• Birth Tissue Donation Program A program launched in 2025 offering expectant mothers an opportunity to donate umbilical cord and placental tissue after delivery for transplantation, research and education purposes.
• Precision-Cut Lung Slices (PCLS) A research product providing ex vivo human lung tissue slices prepared using low-temperature agarose infusion to preserve lung architecture; slices retain alveolar structure, immune cell populations, and connective tissue, can be cryopreserved and used in culture for up to 14 days, and shipped nationwide. Approximately 200 donated human lungs are processed annually for researchers studying pulmonary diseases, drug testing, and toxicology.
• Metadata Inventory (DNWMI) A database of over one billion non-protected health information data points collected from donors over three decades across 16 clinical categories (Medical/Social history, CBC, DCD information, Culture Results, ABG, Chemistry, Diagnostics, Serology, etc.), which researchers can apply to access for predictive and analytic research.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,114 recipients saved in 2025 through 465 organ donations and 1,269 transplanted organs
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UCSF VITAL Core ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Five-year collaboration establishing a scalable model (VITAL Core) that secures access to viable, donated organs and tissues not used for transplant for research. The program enables rapid recovery and delivery of tissue samples to researchers. Between 2021-2024, participating laboratories grew from 8 to 42, tissue types expanded from 15 to 43, and annual sample volume increased sevenfold. Discoveries have resulted in 14+ peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals including Cell and Science. Researchers who received samples secured more than $28.6 million in funding during the study period.
• Johns Hopkins HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipating transplant hospital for the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act, performing liver and kidney transplants from HIV-positive donors to HIV-positive recipients. One of four participating hospitals nationally.
• Mount Sinai Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipating transplant hospital for the HOPE Act, performing liver and kidney transplants from HIV-positive donors. Located in New York, NY.
• University of California San Diego Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipating transplant hospital for the HOPE Act, performing liver (deceased donor) and kidney (deceased donor) transplants from HIV-positive donors.
• University of California San Francisco Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipating transplant hospital for the HOPE Act, performing liver (deceased and living donor) and kidney (deceased donor) transplants from HIV-positive donors. Also key research partner through VITAL Core program.
• Donate Life AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDonor Network West is an official Donate Life organization and partners with Donate Life America for the confidential donor registry. The registry is administered by Donate Life America, a nonprofit dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation.
• Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with DMV offices across California and Nevada to help increase donor registration. Individuals can register as organ donors during driver's license transactions at DMV locations throughout the service area.
• Stanford Medical CentercoreTechnology or IntegrationMajor research partner receiving organ and tissue samples for studies including curing blindness, hearing loss research, COVID-19 studies, and cancer research. Stanford Institute for Immunology, Transplantation and Infection benefits from access to spleen and other tissues. Multiple research publications acknowledge Donor Network West's contribution.
• Harvard Medical SchoolcoreTechnology or IntegrationResearch partner receiving donated human lungs for precision-cut lung slice (PCLS) studies and pulmonary research including studies at Harvard Medical School's Department of Emergency Medicine.
• Chan Zuckerberg InitiativecoreTechnology or IntegrationStrategic research partner supporting biomedical research. The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub collaborates with Donor Network West to provide tissue samples for groundbreaking research projects.
• The Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardcoreTechnology or IntegrationResearch partner that has benefited from access to donated organ and tissue samples for biomedical research, including coronary artery disease studies.
• UCSF Medical CentercoreTechnology or IntegrationKey research partner and transplant center. The UCSF Matthay Lab uses donor lungs for understanding mechanisms of lung injury and testing new therapies. UCSF VITAL Core program facilitates tissue access for researchers.
• Dana Farber Cancer InstitutecoreTechnology or IntegrationResearch institution that has benefited from access to donated organ and tissue samples for cancer research through the VITAL Core program and direct partnerships.
• Reno AcesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with the Reno Aces minor league baseball team for the Home Run for Life game series, honoring organ donors, recipients, and families four times per season at Greater Nevada Field in Reno, Nevada.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• OneLegacy: OneLegacy is the federally-designated OPO serving the seven-county southern California region, making it the closest operational peer to Donor Network West in service model, regulatory framework, and population scale.
• IIAM (International Institute for the Advancement of Medicine): IIAM is a non-profit that recovers and distributes human organs and tissues for research, directly competing with DNW's VITAL Core program and Metadata Inventory in supplying academic and industry researchers.
• Lifebanc: Lifebanc is a federally-designated OPO serving Northeast Ohio, operating the same hospital-partnered donation model with comparable outreach, DMV partnership, and transplant coordination functions.
• LifeNet Health: LifeNet Health is one of the largest organ and tissue procurement organizations in the U.S., operating a comparable federally-regulated OPO model with extensive tissue banking and research distribution capabilities.
• Mid-America Transplant: Mid-America Transplant is a federally-designated OPO serving parts of Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas, with similar organ and tissue recovery, research partnerships, and community outreach programs.
• New England Donor Services: New England Donor Services is the OPO serving the New England region, comparable to DNW in CMS certification, AATB accreditation, and integrated organ/tissue recovery plus research distribution.
• NDRI (National Disease Research Interchange): NDRI is a non-profit human tissue resource provider that procures and distributes donated human organs and tissues to researchers nationwide, overlapping with DNW's research donation and VITAL Core functions.
• LifeGift: LifeGift is the OPO serving parts of Texas, including Houston, where President & CEO Dr. Janice F. Whaley previously served as Managing Director of Clinical Operations. Direct operational and leadership comparability.

Broad incumbents

• Versiti: Versiti is a blood and biologics organization with integrated tissue recovery services across multiple states, offering overlapping donation infrastructure at meaningfully larger geographic and operational scale than DNW.
• MTF Biologics: MTF Biologics (formerly Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation) is a national tissue banking and research organization with significantly broader tissue-type coverage and donor network scale than DNW's regional footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/mydnwest
• Xx.com/mydnwest

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Donor Network West