MIRANDOLA, Italy and
MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J.,
May 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- Aferetica srl, an innovative start-up specializing in blood
purification, and CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO), a
critical care immunotherapy leader commercializing
CytoSorb® to treat deadly inflammation, announced the
renewal of their partnership enabling Aferetica to exclusively
distribute CytoSorb in Italy
through 2021 for critical care and cardiac surgery
applications. Based on collective expectations, this
partnership could result in more than $10
million in sales of CytoSorb to CytoSorbents over the term
of the agreement.
CytoSorb is an advanced blood purification technology that has
helped many patients survive life-threatening conditions caused by
infection, trauma, liver failure, and many other diseases. It
works by reducing a broad range of inflammatory toxins from the
blood that could otherwise cause deadly inflammation, organ
failure, and fatal outcomes. Approved in the European Union,
CytoSorb has been used safely to help thousands of patients in the
areas of critical care, cardiac surgery and organ
transplantation. One of the largest target markets is sepsis
– the uncontrolled immune response to a serious infection – which
afflicts 30 million people worldwide each year, and causes nearly
10 million deaths.
Mr. Mauro Atti, CEO of Aferetica
stated, "We are proud of our partnership with CytoSorbents that has
allowed us to bring CytoSorb®, and its innovative
therapeutic approach, to Italian hospitals where it has already
demonstrated its great potential to save human lives. Since
our introduction of CytoSorb® to the hospital market a
little over two years ago, more than 500 patients have been
successfully treated in Italy. We can attest to the many
cases in both the intensive care unit and during cardiac surgery
where physicians have used CytoSorb® to stabilize and
regain control of their patients in a timely manner, in a wide
range of illnesses, including sepsis – the leading killer
worldwide. It has been particularly gratifying to be involved
in helping to make a positive difference in the lives of patients
and their families. This includes many victims of the most
powerful earthquake to hit central Italy in decades last year."
Mr. Atti continued, "These excellent results, as well as
through valuable research activities, have led to strong
collaborations with the medical and scientific community in
Italy, with increasing usage and
more than thirty clinical research projects currently ongoing.
In addition to generating more clinical data, we expect these
studies will importantly also demonstrate that CytoSorb reduces the
costs of ICU care. The interest in the CytoSorb therapy continues
to grow, as seen by our very successful symposium at the
28th SMART Anesthesia Resuscitation in Intensive Care
conference in Milan, where more
than 300 people came to learn how to use CytoSorb to treat sepsis,
liver failure, and trauma."
"We are also particularly excited about our program in the field
of solid organ transplantation, where Aferetica has been working on
innovative new projects to maximize the viability of transplanted
organs, improve transplant outcomes, and give more potential to
human life. More than 8,000 patients are waiting for donated
organs in Italy alone.
CytoSorb can play an important role before, during, and after
transplant surgery, as already confirmed by recent and important
studies in collaboration with some of the most important Italian
universities. CytoSorb has a really huge therapeutic
potential," Mr. Atti concluded.
Dr. Phillip Chan, CEO of
CytoSorbents stated, "Aferetica is an exemplary partner that has
used its extensive knowledge, contacts, and experience of blood
purification and critical illness to bring CytoSorb to the Italian
people. We have been very impressed by their focus,
scientific vision, and leadership, particularly in exciting new
growth areas, and welcome the opportunity to work with them on an
exclusive basis in Italy for the
next 5 years."
Mr. Stefan Baudis, International
Sales Director International of CytoSorbents commented, "We
congratulate the Aferetica team for their successful work in the
past two years with CytoSorb. Their dedication and
passion for the CytoSorb therapy mirrors our own in our direct
territories, and we are convinced that this will lead to even
greater success in Italy."
About Aferetica srl (Mirandola, Modena)
Founded by Mauro Atti and
Stefano Rimondi, leaders with
decades of experience in dialysis, intensive care, cardiology and
medical devices in general, Aferetica is innovative
start-up specializing in blood purification to
provide the Health care system with systems for therapeutic
apheresis to support special procedures like Organ
Transplant and to treat critical illnesses such as sepsis,
autoimmune diseases, and other illnesses caused by undesirable
mediators.
Aferetica is based in the incubator of the Biomedical District
of Mirandola, Italy, district that
brings with it as a common heritage of knowledge, technologies, and
production capacities allowing to quickly and efficiently develop
therapies and products. Most of the innovations born in
Europe in the field of blood
purification spring from ideas and activities carried out in
collaboration between industry, clinicians, and academicians around
this territory. The Aferetica partners have always believed
this is the main road leading to real and concrete innovation and
have with their activities contributed to the growth of
collaborative research, the building block of the company.
For more information, please visit the company
website: http://www.aferetica.com
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 43 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. CytoSorbents has
completed its REFRESH (REduction in FREe Hemoglobin) 1 trial – a
multi-center, randomized controlled study that has demonstrated the
safety and efficacy of free hemoglobin reduction with
intra-operative CytoSorb® use in a heart-lung machine during
complex cardiac surgery. In 2017, the company plans to
initiate a pivotal REFRESH 2 trial intended to support U.S. FDA
approval. CytoSorb® has been used safely in more than 23,000
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. Its technologies have received non-dilutive
grant, contract, and other funding in excess of $18
million from DARPA, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health (NIH),
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), U.S. Special
Operations Command (SOCOM) and others. 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 CytoSorb-XL, HemoDefend™,
VetResQ™, ContrastSorb, DrugSorb, 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, 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 3, 2017, 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.
CytoSorbents
Contact: Amy Vogel
Investor
Relations
(732) 329-8885 ext.
*825
avogel@cytosorbents.com
|
Aferetica Press
Contact
Paola
Abruzzese
0039
349/2325481
paola.abruzzese@mec-partners.net
|
CytoSorbents
Public Relations Contact:
Amy
Phillips
Pascale
Communications
412-327-9499
amy@pascalecommunications.com
|
|
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SOURCE CytoSorbents Corporation