CytoSorbents Corporation (CTSO)

[dah174174]

Life Sciences Report - George Zavoico of MLV & Co likes CTSO


GZ: I want to mention CytoSorbents Corp. (CTSO:OTCBB). It's a small company that developed a cartridge called CytoSorb, which contains beads that can filter a number of cytokines from patients who have sepsis, trauma and burns. These "cytokine storms" are the result of a systemic inflammatory response that occurs in very sick patients. CytoSorb is CE-marked in Europe, which is the equivalent of FDA device clearance in the U.S., and is being used in Europe.

The product requires no learning curve: Doctors just put the cartridge in a blood dialysis system or in a cardiopulmonary bypass circuit. That's it. I think it's in use in more than 30 countries now. There are also a number of ISTs with CytoSorb going on in Europe. The company's recent revenue growth is impressive. CytoSorbents plans to start a trial in cardiac surgery in the U.S. A small trial in Germany demonstrated that the use of CytoSorb with a heart-lung machine in high-risk cardiac surgery reduced blood levels of proinflammatory cytokines and inflammatory biomarkers in a three-day post-operative period. If CytoSorb gets approved in the U.S., we could see a big uptick in revenue and the value of the company.

What's impressive about CytoSorb are numerous case studies coming out of Europe where the use of the cartridge induces a rapid reversal of multiorgan failure in sepsis or traumatic shock, with full recovery of the patients. We see CytoSorb gaining traction in territories where a CE-Mark is sufficient to launch a product.