National Institutes of Health Grants Phase I SBIR Award to CytoSorbents to Test Novel Polymers for Cytokine and Endotoxin Removal from Septic Porcine Plasma

Goal is to advance new combined blood purification technologies to treat Gram negative sepsis – a deadly global killer

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO), a leader in the treatment of life-threatening conditions in the intensive care unit and cardiac surgery using blood purification via its proprietary polymer adsorption technology, announced today that the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has granted CytoSorbents a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award valued at $281,835.  The eight-month award (Award #1R43GM144973-01) will allow CytoSorbents to test the ability of its novel and existing polymers to remove cytokines and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin from septic porcine plasma.  LPS endotoxin, released by Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, and Legionella, is a well-known potent and deadly trigger of sepsis and septic shock by activating the immune system and generating a cytokine storm that can lead to massive, uncontrolled systemic inflammation, organ failure, and potentially death. 

Dr. Phillip Chan, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of CytoSorbents stated, "Gram-negative infections play an important and feared role in sepsis, accounting for approximately 40% of cases of septic shock, and more than 30% of hospital-acquired infections.  These patients tend to be very sick and have a high risk of death.  We are the pioneer in the treatment of sepsis and septic shock by targeting cytokine storm and deadly inflammation with our European Union approved extracorporeal cytokine adsorber, CytoSorb®.  But we believe the combination of extracorporeal cytokine and endotoxin removal from blood, in conjunction with antibiotics, may be an even more effective therapy for Gram-negative infections, and will help us to save more lives.  We are grateful for the support from NIGMS to conduct the preliminary in vitro work needed before we evaluate our new polymers in a pig model of Gram-negative sepsis in the future." 

Sepsis is the overzealous immune response to an infection and is responsible for approximately one in every five deaths worldwide each year.  This has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a "global health priority."  Sepsis accounts for approximately 10-20% of all intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, where patients either have sepsis when admitted to the ICU, or develop sepsis as a result of a nosocomial or hospital-acquired infection while in the ICU.  Gram-negative infections commonly trigger septic shock, a serious complication of sepsis where the blood pressure drops to dangerously low levels and organ failure and death can ensue.  Despite antibiotics and the best standard of care, septic shock still has a mortality of 35-50%.  

The content of this press release is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

About CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO)

CytoSorbents Corporation is a leader in the treatment of life-threatening conditions in the intensive care unit and in cardiac surgery through blood purification.  Its lead product, CytoSorb®, is approved in the European Union and distributed in 75 countries worldwide. It is an extracorporeal cytokine adsorber that reduces "cytokine storm" or "cytokine release syndrome" in common critical illnesses that can lead to massive inflammation, organ failure and patient death.  In these diseases, the risk of death can be extremely high, and there are few, if any, effective treatments.  CytoSorb is also used during and after cardiothoracic surgery to remove inflammatory mediators that can lead to postoperative complications, including multiple organ failure.  As of June 30, 2022, more than 179,000 CytoSorb devices have been used cumulatively.  CytoSorb was originally launched in the European Union under CE mark as the first cytokine adsorber.  Additional CE mark extensions were granted for bilirubin and myoglobin removal in clinical conditions such as liver disease and trauma, respectively, and for ticagrelor and rivaroxaban removal in cardiothoracic surgery procedures.  CytoSorb has also received FDA Emergency Use Authorization in the United States for use in adult critically ill COVID-19 patients with impending or confirmed respiratory failure.  The DrugSorb™-ATR antithrombotic removal system, based on the same polymer technology as CytoSorb, also received two FDA Breakthrough Device Designations, one for the removal of ticagrelor and another for the removal of the direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) apixaban and rivaroxaban in a cardiopulmonary bypass circuit during urgent cardiothoracic procedures.  The company has initiated two FDA-approved pivotal studies to support FDA marketing approval of DrugSorb-ATR in the United States.  The first is the randomized, controlled STAR-T (Safe and Timely Antithrombotic Removal-Ticagrelor) study of 120 patients at 30 centers to evaluate whether intraoperative use of DrugSorb-ATR can reduce the perioperative risk of bleeding in patients receiving ticagrelor and undergoing cardiothoracic surgery.  The second study is the STAR‑D (Safe and Timely Antithrombotic Removal-Direct Oral Anticoagulants) randomized, controlled trial of 120 patients at 30 centers evaluating the intraoperative use of DrugSorb-ATR to reduce perioperative bleeding risk in patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery and taking direct oral anticoagulants, including apixaban and rivaroxaban.

CytoSorbents' purification technologies are based on biocompatible, highly porous polymer beads that can actively remove toxic substances from blood and other bodily fluids by pore capture and surface adsorption.  Its technologies have received non-dilutive grant, contract, and other funding of more than $48 million from DARPA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), Air Force Material Command (USAF/AFMC), and others.  The Company has numerous marketed products and products under development based upon this unique blood purification technology protected by many issued U.S. and international patents and registered trademarks, and multiple patent applications pending, including ECOS-300CY®, CytoSorb-XL™, HemoDefend-RBC™, HemoDefend-BGA™, VetResQ®, K⁺ontrol™, DrugSorb™, DrugSorb™-ATR, ContrastSorb, and others.  For more information, please visit the Company's websites at www.cytosorbents.com and www.cytosorb.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans, objectives, future targets and outlooks for our business, expectations regarding the future impacts of COVID-19 or the ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, representations and contentions and are not historical facts and typically are identified by use of terms such as "may," "should," "could," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. You should be aware that the forward-looking statements in this press release represent management's current judgment and expectations, but our actual results, events and performance could differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the risks discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 10, 2022, as updated by the risks reported in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and in the press releases and other communications to shareholders issued by us from time to time which attempt to advise interested parties of the risks and factors which may affect our business. We caution you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, other than as required under the Federal securities laws.

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Company Contact:
Kathleen Bloch 
(732) 398-5429
[email protected]

U.S. Public Relations Contact:
Eric Kim
Rubenstein Public Relations
212-805-3052
[email protected]

SOURCE CytoSorbents Corporation

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