MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J.,
June 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/
-- CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO), a leader in
critical care immunotherapy specializing in blood purification,
announced that it was awarded a $150,000 Phase I Small Business Technology
Transfer (STTR) contract to develop blood purification technologies
that may enable universal plasma. A successful Phase I effort
will position the company to be competitive for selection in the
Phase II STTR program, valued at more than $1 million.
Dr. Phillip Chan, MD, PhD, Chief
Executive Officer of CytoSorbents stated: "We are pleased to
announce initial funding to expand our HemoDefend™ purification
technology platform for blood transfusion products. Plasma is a
core component of whole blood that contains many essential proteins
such as albumin and coagulation factors. It is often used to
expand blood volume and restore the ability of blood to clot in
many serious illnesses such as trauma and massive hemorrhage,
shock, liver disease, severe burn injury, sepsis, and other
conditions. It is also used in plasma exchange procedures to
treat autoimmune diseases. More than 10,000 units of fresh frozen
plasma are administered each day, or more than 3.6 million units
per year, in the United States
alone."
Dr. Chan continued, "With the exception of Type AB plasma,
plasma typically requires blood-type matching with the patient to
prevent incompatibilities and reduce the risk of major transfusion
reactions. Because Type AB plasma lacks blood type-specific
antibodies, it is called 'universal plasma' and can be readily
administered to patients in emergency situations, making logistics
fairly straightforward for both military and civilian
applications. However, there are not enough Type AB plasma
donors to supply current demand. Under this Phase I STTR program,
we plan to adapt our HemoDefend™ technology to remove these
blood-type specific antibodies from all blood-type plasmas and
demonstrate the proof-of-concept production of a true 'universal
plasma'. In doing so, we hope to alleviate a major bottleneck
in the availability of plasma to help address these major unmet
medical needs."
This work is being funded by the U.S. Army Medical Research
Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) under contract W81XWH-16-C-0025.
About CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO)
CytoSorbents Corporation is a leader in critical care
immunotherapy, specializing in blood purification. Its
flagship product, CytoSorb®, is approved in the European Union with
distribution in 34 countries around the world, as a safe and
effective extracorporeal cytokine adsorber, designed to reduce the
"cytokine storm" or "cytokine release syndrome" that could
otherwise cause massive inflammation, organ failure and death in
common critical illnesses such as sepsis, burn injury, trauma, lung
injury, and pancreatitis, as well as in cancer immunotherapy.
These are conditions where the risk of death is extremely high, yet
no effective treatments exist. CytoSorb® is also
being used during and after cardiac surgery to remove inflammatory
mediators, such as cytokines and free hemoglobin, which can lead to
post-operative complications, including multiple organ
failure. CytoSorb® has been used safely in more than 12,000
human treatments to date.
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. The Company has numerous products
under development based upon this unique blood purification
technology, protected by 32 issued U.S. patents and multiple
applications pending, including HemoDefend™, ContrastSorb,
DrugSorb, and others. Additional information is available for
download on the Company's websites:
http://www.cytosorbents.com and http://www.cytosorb.com
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, 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 9, 2016, 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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Cytosorbents
Contact: Amy Vogel
Investor
Relations
(732) 329-8885 ext.
*825
avogel@cytosorbents.com
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Investor
Contact:
Lee Roth
The Ruth
Group
646-536-7012
lroth@theruthgroup.com
Public Relations
Contact:
Christopher
Hippolyte
The Ruth
Group
646-536-7023
chippolyte@theruthgroup.com
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SOURCE CytoSorbents Corporation