MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., Sept. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CytoSorbents Corporation (OTCQB: CTSO), a critical care immunotherapy company, remembers the significant contributions of its co-founder and Board Director, Joseph Rubin, Esq., who passed away on September 1, 2014 at age 76.

Joe Rubin was passionate about the potential ability to help people using CytoSorbents' blood purification technology. 

From the beginning, Joe was a part of a small group of visionary entrepreneurs and scientists who helped start the company based upon a nascent porous polymer bead technology that could remove toxic materials from blood.  Through his extensive personal and professional network, Joe helped raise much of the early investments that enabled the company to mature and protect its technology.  Following many years of hard work and contributions by many people, Joe was elated with the approval and initial commercialization of CytoSorb®, the only specifically approved extracorporeal cytokine filter in the European Union, designed to reduce deadly inflammation to prevent or treat organ failure in patients with life-threatening illnesses.    

As a Board Director, Joe provided a unique business and legal perspective.  A graduate of Harvard Law School and a Senior Partner of Rubin & Bailin, LLP, he specialized in international and domestic corporate and commercial law, with a particular fondness for helping launch start-up ventures here and abroad.  Joe provided legal counsel to the company since its inception, and had a true talent for contracts and contract negotiations, balancing practicality with protection, and with a creativity for conflict resolution that set him in a class of his own.

Joe loved to teach and share his vast experience in law, business management and entrepreneurship with others.  For more than three decades, he taught students at Columbia University, first as an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Business for 22 years, then at Columbia Law School, and later at the School of International and Public Affairs.  He also served as Executive Director of the International Technical Assistance Program for Transforming Economies (ITAP) which he developed for Columbia to provide education and training programs in free-market economics and business management to executives in former socialist states and developing countries.  Students remember Joe as an "electrifying" lecturer whose knowledge, enthusiasm, and clarity of thought made each class a joy.

For those who knew Joe personally, they remember not only his sharp intelligence and business acumen, but that he was truly a good person, with a quick wit and a tremendous sense of humor.  He enjoyed to laugh and make others laugh and always had some fascinating memory or story to share.  He was also one of the few people that could honestly be characterized as a "Renaissance man".  He was a Fulbright Scholar.  He could sing opera.  He performed professionally as a musician, and even appeared in movies.  He traveled across the planet, collecting unique memorabilia, each with its own story.  But his true love was photography.  He had the uncanny ability to see the true essence in situations not readily perceived by others, a perfect metaphor for being an entrepreneur.  His recent series "Metropolis" (Urban Reflections) captures the beauty of New York City as reflections in glass, water, and metal.  Many of his photos can be viewed on his website: www.joerubinphotography.com, in his photo book "Reflections," and in airports, commercial establishments, building lobbies, and offices throughout the city. 

Although we are saddened by the loss of our dear friend, advisor, and colleague, we take some comfort in his excitement and pride in seeing part of his dream for our company become a reality:  the commercial launch of CytoSorb®, the growing adoption and usage by physicians around the world, and most importantly, the many cases where CytoSorb® has helped to save lives.  It has been a privilege and an honor to have known him and to have learned from him.  We are committed to continuing the journey that Joe helped set in motion many years ago, and ultimately fulfilling a common dream that we shared together.

Joe Rubin (1938-2014).

About CytoSorbents Corporation            
CytoSorbents Corporation is a critical care focused immunotherapy company using blood purification to modulate inflammation -- with the goal of preventing or treating multiple organ failure in life-threatening illnesses. Organ failure is the cause of nearly half of all deaths in the intensive care unit, with little to improve clinical outcome. CytoSorb®, the Company's flagship product, is approved in the European Union as a safe and effective extracorporeal cytokine adsorber, designed to reduce the "cytokine storm" that could otherwise cause massive inflammation, organ failure and death in common critical illnesses such as sepsis, burn injury, trauma, lung injury, and pancreatitis. 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 try to remove inflammatory mediators, such as cytokines and free hemoglobin, which can lead to post-operative complications, including multiple organ failure.

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. CytoSorbents has numerous products under development based upon this unique blood purification technology, protected by 32 issued US patents and multiple applications pending, including HemoDefend™, ContrastSorb, DrugSorb, and others. Additional information is available for download on the Company's website: http://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. Risk factors are detailed in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 31, 2014, which is available at http://www.sec.gov.

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SOURCE CytoSorbents Corporation