CytoSorbents Awarded $1 Million STTR Phase II Contract To Advance Development of Life-Saving Universal Plasma

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., July 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO), a leader in critical care immunotherapy specializing in blood purification, today announced that it has been awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II contract, valued at a total of $999,070 over two years, to continue development of blood purification technologies designed to enable "universal" plasma.  CytoSorbents will collaborate with researchers at Penn State University on this project. This follows the successful completion of a $150,000 STTR Phase I contract for the program.

Dr. Phillip Chan, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of CytoSorbents stated, "This much appreciated non-dilutive funding support is expected to rapidly advance the development of a second product in our HemoDefend line of technologies for the blood transfusion industry.  Our other product is the HemoDefend packed red blood cell filter which is expected to enter human clinical testing within the next year.  Plasma is the straw-colored, cell-free portion of whole blood.  It contains a wide range of important substances such as electrolytes, hormones, proteins such as albumin, clotting factors, and antibodies. The transfusion of plasma, or plasma-derived products, is used widely to help save the lives of trauma and bleeding victims, septic and other critically-ill patients, and patients with life-threatening blood coagulation and autoimmune disorders.  In 2008, more than 4.5 million units of plasma were transfused in the United States alone."

Dr. Chan continued, "With the exception of the relatively uncommon Type AB, or "universal" plasma, most plasma contains blood-type specific antibodies and must be cross-matched with the intended recipient ahead of time or risk serious transfusion reactions.  By reducing these blood-type specific antibodies, our goal is to create a cost-effective, reliable, and expanded source of "universal" plasma that can be administered immediately, without blood-typing, in a wide range of emergent and non-emergent situations."

This work is being funded by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA), U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), Fort Detrick, MD 21702 under contract W81XWH-17-C-0053.

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 $19 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.

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CytoSorbents Contact:
Amy Vogel
Investor Relations
(732) 398-5394
avogel@cytosorbents.com

Investor Relations Contact:
Bob Yedid
LifeSci Advisors
646-597-6989
bob@lifesciadvisors.com

Public Relations Contact:
Amy Phillips    
Pascale Communications    
412-327-9499    
amy@pascalecommunications.com

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SOURCE CytoSorbents Corporation