MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ--(Marketwire - March 07, 2012) - CytoSorbents Corporation (OTCBB: CTSO), a critical care focused company using blood purification to treat life-threatening illnesses, announced that it is sponsoring a research forum on the role of cytokine reduction in the treatment of sepsis at the International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (ISICEM) in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday, March 21, 2012. ISICEM is one of the largest and most prestigious critical care conferences in the world, attracting approximately 6,000 key opinion leaders, physicians, and other healthcare personnel each year. The meeting will take place in the ARC room at the SQUARE Brussels Meeting Center from 6:15 - 7:45PM CET.
The research session is entitled “Cytokine removal: Can immune modulation change sepsis therapy?” and will feature presentations by Dr. John Kellum, Prof. Dr. Steffen Mitzner, and Prof. Dr. Michael Quintel. Following is the program agenda:
Cytokine removal: Can immune modulation change sepsis therapy?
Chairs: J Kellum, Pittsburgh; M Quintel, Göttingen
1) “Blood purification in Sepsis: A new paradigm”
Dr. John Kellum, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, United States
2) “Sepsis mediators to be removed - An overview on extracorporeal therapy techniques”
Prof. Dr. Steffen Mitzner, University of Rostock, Germany
3) " CytoSorb™ whole blood cytokine adsorption - Results of a controlled randomized trial”
Prof. Dr. Michael Quintel, University of Göttingen, Germany
Dr. Phillip Chan, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are pleased to sponsor this important research symposium and to exhibit at one of the field’s most recognized and well-attended critical care conferences prior to our official launch of CytoSorb™ in Europe this spring. We are particularly excited to have the participation of Drs. Kellum, Quintel and Mitzner, all of whom are leading experts in the fields of critical care, organ injury, and extracorporeal therapies.”
Dr. Chan continued, “Our multi-year research collaboration with Dr. Kellum and the University of Pittsburgh included a five year $7 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant and resulted in the publication of many scientific journal articles that continue to elucidate the mechanistic role of CytoSorb™ in the treatment of sepsis. Dr. Quintel is the President of the German Interdisciplinary Society of Intensive Care Medicine (DIVI). As a key investigator, he led one of the highest enrolling sites in our European Sepsis Trial and now serves as Principal Investigator of our CytoSorb™ dosing studies. Dr. Mitzner is a new user of CytoSorb™, but a veteran of extracorporeal therapies. He was the co-inventor and pioneer in the development of MARS (Molecular Adsorbent Recirculating System), the leading extracorporeal blood purification system for the treatment of liver failure.”
Dr. Chan concluded, “We expect an enlightening discussion on various blood purification strategies to treat sepsis and welcome the opportunity to contribute our pre-clinical and clinical data using CytoSorb™ in sepsis and lung injury. This research forum and our continual presence at the conference with our exhibition booth are both intended to continue to create broad awareness of our unique cytokine reduction technology amongst critical care physicians.”
About the Speakers
Dr. John Kellum, M.D., is Professor of Critical Care Medicine, and Professor of Medicine, Bioengineering and Clinical & Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also Vice Chair for Research, and Director of the Bioengineering and Organ Support Program of the Clinical Research, Investigation, and Systems Modeling of Acute Illness (CRISMA) Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. His research interests center in critical care nephrology, sepsis and multi-organ failure, including blood purification, and clinical epidemiology. His research has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health since 2001 and he has active funding from multiple different NIH Institutes. Dr Kellum has authored more than 300 publications and has also edited several major textbooks including Critical Care Nephrology 2nd Edition (WB Saunders), and Stewart’s Textbook of Acid-Base, 2nd Edition. He has won several awards for teaching; he lectures widely and has given more than 300 seminars and invited lectures related to his research. Dr. Kellum has been involved in the development of several clinical practice guidelines. He is a founding member and past president of the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative and is co-chair of the Kidney Diseases Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) clinical practice guideline on acute kidney injury. Dr. Kellum is also a leader in electronic research especially in critical illness and is the Director of CARe (Center for Assistance in Research using the eRecord) at the University of Pittsburgh.
Prof. Dr. Michael Quintel, M.D., is the Director of the Department of Anaesthesiology, Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine at the University of Göttingen, in Göttingen, Germany. In addition to his memberships in many national and international societies, he is the President of the German Interdisciplinary Society of Intensive Care Medicine (DIVI) and a council member of the German Society of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care (DGAI). Dr. Quintel is also a member of the German Sepsis Society and an Investigator in the SepNet Sepsis Clinical Trial Network in Germany and has participated in numerous sepsis and critical care trials. Dr. Quintel obtained his degree in medicine in 1985 at the University in Heidelberg, Germany. Between 1985 and 1987 he started his training in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care in a township hospital, moved then to the University, Hospital Mannheim, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Heidelberg. In 1990 he completed his training in Anaesthesia in the department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at the University Hospital Mannheim. At the University Hospital of Mannheim, he first became Attendant Physician, before working as Deputy of the Chair of this department. In 2003 he was elected as Chair of Surgical Intensive Care Medicine at the University of Göttingen, Germany. In 2009 he then received full responsibility for the Anaesthesia service at the University of Göttingen.
Prof. Dr. Steffen Mitzner, M.D., is the Director of the Division of Nephrology at the University of Rostock, Germany. From 1985-90 Dr. Mitzner studied at the Medical Faculty of Rostock University, Germany and from 1990-91 at the Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. He specialized in Internal Medicine with a sub-specialization in Nephrology and Dialysis. From 1995, Dr. Mitzner served as Head of the Extracorporeal Artificial Organ Program of the Medical Faculty in Rostock. In 2006 he was granted a professorship for “Medical Membrane Technologies”. In 2008 he was appointed as Director of the Division Nephrology, University of Rostock. The scientific work of Dr. Mitzner is focused on the development and clinical evaluation of extracorporeal detoxification technologies. His main projects include the use of extracorporeal liver support with the albumin dialysis MARS system and the development of a bioreactor-based immune support system in bacterial sepsis.
About ISICEM
The International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine is organized by the Departments of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine of Erasme University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, in association with the Belgian Society of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. This annual conference was started in 1980 and has become established as one of the largest in its field, now attracting more than 6,000 participants from countries worldwide. The objectives of this four-day symposium are to provide participants with an up-to-date review of the most recent, clinically relevant, developments in research, therapy, and management of the critically ill. The meeting is open to all physicians, nurses, and other health professionals with an interest in critical care or emergency medicine.
About CytoSorbents, CytoSorb™, and HemoDefend
CytoSorbents Corporation is a critical care focused therapeutic device company using blood purification to treat life-threatening illnesses. Its purification technology is based on biocompatible, highly porous polymer beads that can actively remove toxic substances from blood and other bodily fluids by pore capture and adsorption. In March 2011, CytoSorb™, the Company’s flagship product, achieved European regulatory approval as an extracorporeal cytokine filter, and can now be sold throughout the European Union (E.U.) under the CE Mark to be used in clinical situations where cytokines are elevated. The goal of CytoSorb™ is to modulate the immune system by removing excessive cytokines, often called “cytokine storm”, in critically-ill patients that can lead to deadly inflammation, multiple organ failure, immune dysfunction, and often death in common illnesses such as sepsis, trauma, burn injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and pancreatitis. CytoSorb™ has demonstrated statistically significant reductions in mortality in septic patients at high risk of death and is now available for sale in Germany for the treatment of critical care illnesses under a controlled market release, with a planned broad product launch in Germany anticipated for the first half of 2012 and availability in other E.U. countries, assuming adequate and timely funding, and continued positive results from our clinical studies. HemoDefend is a development-stage blood purification technology platform for the blood transfusion industry intended to reduce transfusion reactions and safeguard the quality and safety of blood products. The HemoDefend technology utilizes the Company’s polymer bead technology to remove many substances, such as antibodies, free hemoglobin and inflammatory mediators that can cause potentially serious and sometimes fatal transfusion reactions. CytoSorb™ and HemoDefend are just two of a number of different resins the Company has designed for various medical applications, including improved dialysis, the potential treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, rhabdomyolysis in trauma, removal of chemotherapy drugs during treatment of cancer with high dose regional chemotherapy, drug detoxification, and others. Additional information is available for download on the Company’s website: www.cytosorbents.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. Forward-looking statements in this press release are not promises or guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. We caution you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein. CytoSorbents Corporation and CytoSorbents, Inc believe that its primary risk factors include, but are not limited to: obtaining government approvals including required FDA and additional CE Mark approvals; ability to successfully develop commercial operations; dependence on key personnel; acceptance of the Company’s medical devices in the marketplace; the outcome of pending and potential litigation; compliance with governmental regulations; reliance on research and testing facilities of various universities and institutions; the ability to obtain adequate and timely financing in the future when needed; product liability risks; limited manufacturing experience; limited marketing, sales and distribution experience; market acceptance of the Company’s products; competition; unexpected changes in technologies and technological advances; and other factors detailed in the Company’s Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 31, 2011, which is available at http://www.sec.gov.
Contact:
CytoSorbents Corporation
David Lamadrid
Chief Financial Officer
(732) 329-8885 ext. 816
DavidL@cytosorbents.com
