World Sepsis Day 2015: CytoSorbents Sponsors the SepsisUpdate 2015 Congress, Hugo Schottmuller Prize, and Sepsis Heroes Ceremony

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., Sept. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO), a leader in critical care immunotherapy using its CytoSorb® blood purification technology to help patients survive sepsis and other life-threatening inflammatory conditions, commemorates World Sepsis Day 2015 (September 13^th) with a host of related activities.

• CytoSorbents recently sponsored the SepsisUpdate 2015 Congress in Weimar, Germany (September 9-11^th) hosted by the German Sepsis Society.  More than 1,000 healthcare providers, mainly from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, attended the conference.
  • CytoSorbents hosted a Research Symposium, attracting more than 130 attendees.  Keynote speakers included major key opinion leaders in critical care.
    • Prof. Dr. med. Herwig Gerlach (Berlin, Germany), President of the German Sepsis Society, gave a talk on "How can CytoSorb® modulate the excessive immune response?"
    • Prof. Dr. Zsolt Molnar (Szeged, Hungary) presented interim clinical results from a 20-patient randomized, controlled septic shock study using CytoSorb® suggesting improved hemodynamics and stabilization of patients
    • Dr. med. Axel Nierhaus (Hamburg, Germany) spoke on "CytoSorb application in non-infectious SIRS post-cardiopulmonary bypass" and presented data supporting the ability of CytoSorb® to modulate immune cell responsiveness
    • Prof. Dr. med. Frank Brunkhorst (Jena, Germany) gave an update on the current status of enrollment of new clinical sites into the International CytoSorb® Registry where more than 60 hospitals are in various stages of registration and many are ready to enroll patient data into the registry
  • Dr. med. Klaus Kogelmann (Emden, Germany) was selected to present his "Case Study of 8 Patients with Multiple Organ Failure treated additionally with CytoSorbents haemadsorption as adjunctive therapy in septic shock and severe SIRS in cardiac failure" detailed on page S51 in the journal, Infection.  These patients were critically-ill with advanced and severe multi-organ failure and an APACHE II score > 25 and an expected historical survival of 45%.  The study demonstrated an improvement in hemodynamics and a pronounced decrease in the need for vasopressors during CytoSorb® treatment.  Survival was 62.5%.
  • Dr. med. Mathias Emmerich (Bad Oeynhausen, Germany) described the successful use of CytoSorb® therapy to hemodynamically stabilize and wean vasopressor usage in a 60-year old female patient with septic shock and multiple organ failure after surgical removal of her gall bladder, complicated by gastric aspiration and necrotizing pancreatitis, and then a second time following colonic perforation and septic shock as described on page S53 in the journal, Infection.  With CytoSorb® therapy, she ultimately went on to survive these life-threatening complications
  • CytoSorbents also sponsored the Hugo Schottmuller Prize, which was awarded by the German Sepsis Society to Dr. med. Georg Weber (Dresden, Germany) for his outstanding publication entitled "Interleukin-3 amplifies acute inflammation and is a potential therapeutic target in sepsis" Science 2015; 347(6227):1260-5.  Interestingly, CytoSorb®, as a broad spectrum extracorporeal cytokine adsorber, has the potential to remove IL-3 as well
• CytoSorbents will again proudly sponsor the 4th Annual Celebration of Sepsis Heroes event hosted by the Sepsis Alliance on Thursday, September 17, 2015 in New York City at Arena NYC (135 West 41^st Street) from 6:30 - 9:30 PM EDT.  The event recognizes individuals, organizations, and companies who are making a difference in sepsis awareness.  This year's honorees include Dr. Kevin Tracey, MD, Mr. Sam Bass, Mr. Rom Duckworth, Mr. Leo Araujo, Ms. Susan Irick, and the Carolinas HealthCare System.  In addition, Ms. Leah Binder, President and CEO of the Leapfrog Group, a non-profit organization calling for improved safety and quality in hospitals, will be the evening's keynote speaker.  General admission tickets can still be purchased to attend this worthy event.

Sepsis is a medical emergency that results from an overzealous immune response to a serious infection, driven by a "cytokine storm", leading to widespread deadly inflammation that can cause multiple organ failure, immune paralysis, and death.  According to the Global Sepsis Alliance, sepsis afflicts 20-30 million people each year worldwide, and kills someone every few seconds, despite the use of antibiotics.

CytoSorb® works to control the excessive inflammatory response through cytokine reduction, removal of bacterial toxins, and redirection of activated white blood cells to the area of infection and away from healthy organs.  In doing so, the goal is to work together with antibiotics to prevent or treat organ failure, the leading cause of death in sepsis.

Dr. Phillip Chan, MD, PhD, CEO of CytoSorbents stated, "World Sepsis Day is about raising awareness and support to eradicate sepsis - one of the great scourges of mankind that remains a top 10 cause of death worldwide.  Our sponsorship of these organizations underscores our commitment and belief that we must all work together to fight sepsis.  In the meantime, we continue to advance CytoSorb® as one of the only safe, broad spectrum therapies to treat sepsis and other critical illnesses where uncontrolled inflammation plays a deadly role."

About the Global Sepsis Alliance

The Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA) is a non-profit organization supporting the efforts of over 1 million caregivers in more than 70 countries as they seek to better understand and combat what many experts believe to be the leading cause of death worldwide: sepsis. The GSA has rallied the Global Sepsis Community to elevate public, philanthropic and governmental awareness, understanding and support of sepsis and to accelerate collaboration among researchers, clinicians, associated working groups and those dedicated to supporting them.

About the German Sepsis Society

The German Sepsis Society (GSS) is the primary medical society in Germany whose mission is to educate and increase public and professional awareness about sepsis.  The organization brings together leaders in sepsis research, diagnostics, treatment, and education in order to also encourage new research, recognize valuable scientific contributions, and foster collaborations to help save lives.  A major goal is to support the rapid implementation of effective sepsis diagnostics and therapies into the standard of care treatment for sepsis.  Members of the GSS have been heavily involved with SepNet, or the Sepsis Competence Network, a consortium of hospitals and investigators funded for 10 years by the German Federal Ministry of Education to conduct research and clinical trials in sepsis.  The GSS also initiated the foundation of the organization, German Sepsis Aid, by people who survived sepsis and their relatives, to provide assistance, information, and networking for those whose lives have been touched by sepsis.  For more information, visit www.sepsis-gesellschaft.de/DSG/Englisch

About the Sepsis Alliance™ and Sepsis Heroes Evening

The Sepsis Alliance is a charitable organization run by a team of dedicated laypeople and professionals who share a strong commitment to battling sepsis.  The goal is to raise awareness of sepsis through information and educational material so it can be detected and treated early enough that no harm is done.  The Sepsis Heroes Evening is an award reception, being held in New York City, designed to raise awareness of sepsis and to recognize the unique contributions of individuals who have committed their time and energy for the cause.  For more information, visit www.sepsisalliance.org

About World Sepsis Day

World Sepsis Day is an initiative of the Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA) and its founding non-profit members:  The World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine, the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies, the World Federation of Critical Care Nurses, the International Sepsis Forum, and the Sepsis Alliance.  The goals of World Sepsis Day are to:

• Reduce the incidence of sepsis through effective prevention strategies
• Increase sepsis survival rates for all population groups around the world
• Provide better access to suitable rehabilitation services for people everywhere
• Increase awareness and understanding of sepsis among healthcare professionals and the general public

For more information, visit www.world-sepsis-day.org

About CytoSorbents Corporation

CytoSorbents Corporation is a critical care focused immunotherapy company using blood purification to control severe 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 with distribution in 31 countries around the world, 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 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 websites: http://www.cytosorbents.com and http://www.cytosorb.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. 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 31, 2015, 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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