Zacks prior notes:
- And while the U.S. strategy is currently focused on a cardiac surgery indication, it’s important to remember that CytoSorb could have effective utility in a number of different indications. One of which is sepsis and another is in cancer applications. While sepsis has been a significant topic of CTSO in the past, cancer has not received nearly as much attention (although CytoSorb has shown some utility in oncological applications). That could soon change, however. A few weeks ago CTSO announced that Dr, Carl June, an expert in CAR T-cell cancer immunotherapy, joined the company’s scientific advisory board for the purpose of guiding the strategy in oncology.
Just days prior to the Dr. June announcement, CTSO revealed that CytoSorb had been used successfully in several patients with a condition called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) – one of these was the subject of a case report published in early March in the Journal of Clinical Immunology. Studies have shown that subjects with secondary HLH, which is often caused by virologic infection and characterized by a strong and sometimes uncontrollable immune response – including cytokine release syndrome (CRS), can exhibit responses similar to cancer patients treated with certain immunotherapies. Specifically, severe CRS (i.e. severe inflammatory response with excessive and harmful levels of cytokines) which can lead to serious complications including organ failure and even death, has been associated with the use cancer immunotherapies such as CART-19 and blinatumomab as well as with secondary HLH. While corticosteroids and tocilizumab have been used with some success in controlling CRS, there are drawbacks. This includes that corticosteroids are suspected of potentially comprising immunotherapy efficacy. Relative to tocilizumab, researchers have noted that its use should be avoided if macrophage activating syndrome (MAS) is suspected.
The similarity in CRS response in HLH and cancer patients treated with immunotherapies and CytoSorb’s apparent early success in treating HLH patients (via reduction in inflammatory markers) is encouraging, particularly as it may relate to the leveraging the massive interest in and growth of the immunotherapy segment. CTSO notes in their March 20, 2017 press release that “we have confirmed the interest in the therapy, once available, as an adjunct to tocilizumab, and before high dose steroids are administered. We plan to continue to pursue applications of our therapy in the treatment of CRS in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, as cancer immunotherapies continue to expand worldwide.”
So while cancer has been what we would characterize as a back-burner application – that could soon change given the recent hiring of Dr. June and the additional recent clinical work indicating CytoSorb’s potential utility in oncology-related areas.
