CytoSorbents Corporation (CTSO)

[ping_pow_princess]

Fresenius interest in sorbent technology, sepsis, and multiple organ failure

Fresenius and Cytosorbents has some history together from when they partnered for BetaSorb. Will they partner on CytoSorb? They would be a great fit for each other!

Fresenius 2007 Annual Report, Employees, R & D, page, 5 & 6
http://fresenius.corporate-publications.com/2007/gb/files/pdf/en/Fresenius_Group_Information.pdf

They talk about their acquistion of Renal Solutions and its sorbent technology and added this, "An aspect of this technology of particular long-term interest to us is that it points to still further-reaching possibilities for selective toxin removal from the patient’s blood in addition to the selective properties of future hemodialysis membranes."

"Extracorporeal blood treatment is one of Fresenius Medical Care’s core competencies. In addition to its widespread application in the area of chronic hemodialysis, this technology is of essential importance for the treatment of acute kidney failure, liver failure, sepsis and multiple organ failure. Fresenius Medical Care has been developing methods, devices and disposable products for the treatment of such diseases for many years. We see our primary mission as developing equipment and processes that help to reduce the still dramatically high mortality rates of these diseases.

Fresenius 2010 Annual report:
http://reports.fmc-ag.com/reports/fmc/annual/2010/gb/English/30202030/employees.html#krems
In September 2010, a new R&D department for sorbent technology -- with six employees started working in Krems in Austria. Fresenius Medical Care has been manufacturing products for various sorbent therapies in Krems since 2003 – for the Prometheus system for removing toxins from patients with liver failure, for procedures to remove antibodies from the blood stream of patients with severe autoimmune disorders, and most recently for the DALI procedure to treat familial hypercholesterolemia, a hereditary metabolic disorder. Over the next few years, we intend to expand our facility in Krems into a competency center for sorbent technology, as we consider this technology to have great potential for new blood purification applications and therapies.

http://reports.fmc-ag.com/reports/fmc/annual/2010/gb/English/30202040/cooperation-in-research.html
We work with universities and research institutes around the world that operate in our specialist field. One example is the Danube University Krems in Austria, whose research into extracorporeal blood purification processes with sorbents we have been funding for almost twenty years. This long-standing partnership with an excellent team of specialists was ultimately one of the reasons why we decided to invest further in our Krems facility.


Danube University Krems:
www.ovcad.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=38

“Currently, the focus is on development of adsorbents for sepsis.”

“In addition to the development of adsorbents and assessment of their efficacy, we work on the biocompatibility of adsorbents for blood purification (e.g. cytotoxicity, haemolytic activity, activation of the coagulation and complement system).
Within OVCAD, our aim is to develop adsorbents for the specific binding of circulating tumor cells as well as to set up a prototype of a system for the continuous removal of tumor cells from blood”

http://www2.ias.tuwien.ac.at/hemodia_sk_e.html

Fresenius's acquistion of Renal Solutions and its significance
A number of companies, including Fresenius and Gambro, are in R&D mode for a wearable artificial kidney (WAK). Patients can have hemodialysis 24/7 without going to a dialysis center four times a week for 3-4 hour treatment sessions. This is apparently the holy grail in kidney failure for the past 50 years. The attempts to develop a WAK are hammered because of the need for large amounts of water for dialysate. Renal Solutions is the developer of SMARRT (Sorbent Management for Advanced Renal Replacement Therapy), the only hemodialysis technology that regenerates used dialysate into fresh, highly pure dialysate using 6 liters of water. One course of hemodialysis normally uses about 100 liters of water. In Nov 2007, Fresenius acquired Renal Solutions (for $200 M) for their technology as a platform for development of wearable kidney. In Dec 2009, Fresenius bought finanically strapped Xcorporeal (for $8M) for their know how in their 8 lb WAK prototype. As of 2009 from Fresenius's In Touch newsletter, they are still searching for the perfect membrane and the best sorbent before they can put it on the market. In addition, their goal is to go from 6 liters of water use to 2-3.

Fresenius wearable kidney, pages 16-23
http://www.fmc-ag.com/files/Magazine09_EN.pdf

Fresenius 2009 Annual Report, the wearable kidney
http://annualreport2010.fresenius.com/reports/fresenius/annual/2010/gb/English/30302010/fresenius-medical-care.html

Fresenius and Renal Solutions renamed the SMARRT to DialiSorb. Trademarked by Fresenius recently.
http://dialisorb.com/regen_tech.html