FDA Accepts DrugSorb-ATR De Novo Application To Reduce the Severity of CABG-Related Bleeding Due to Ticagrelor and Initiates Substantive Review

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO), a leader in the treatment of life-threatening conditions in the intensive care unit and cardiac surgery using blood purification, today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its De Novo medical device application for DrugSorb™-ATR and initiated substantive review. The goal of DrugSorb-ATR, an investigational medical device, is to reduce the severity of perioperative bleeding in patients on ticagrelor (Brilinta^®, AstraZeneca) undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

The FDA De Novo pathway provides a regulatory process for novel medical devices that are found to be low to moderate risk and lack an appropriate predicate device. Acceptance of the company’s De Novo application follows FDA’s previous granting of Breakthrough Device Designation to DrugSorb-ATR, making it eligible for priority review. The Company anticipates an FDA decision in 2025.

Dr. Phillip Chan, Chief Executive Officer of CytoSorbents, stated, “We are pleased to achieve this important milestone and to enter the substantive review phase with FDA of our De Novo application. We believe DrugSorb-ATR represents a breakthrough solution that will allow patients to proceed with their much-needed CABG surgery in a safe and timely manner rather than risking serious, potentially life-threatening complications and consuming costly hospital resources while waiting in the hospital for multiple days for ticagrelor to be naturally eliminated from their system. We are committed to working closely with FDA throughout the review process.”

Ticagrelor is a blood thinning drug frequently administered in the hospital to patients suffering a heart attack. If patients are not eligible for a coronary stent, they will often require CABG surgery to restore blood flow to heart muscle. Current guidelines recommend the delay of surgery by three to five days to allow “washout” or natural elimination of the drug to reduce the high risk of serious and potentially fatal perioperative bleeding from the use of the blood thinner. The 140-patient North American pivotal STAR-T randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of DrugSorb-ATR in patients undergoing urgent cardiac surgery on ticagrelor to reduce the severity of perioperative bleeding complications compared with patients operated without the device. These safety and efficacy data in CABG patients from STAR-T form the basis of our marketing approval submission.

CytoSorbents also expects to submit DrugSorb-ATR for Health Canada Medical Device Licensure soon for this same purpose, pending the expected receipt of MDSAP certification.

About the U.S. and Canadian Regulatory Pathways

The U.S. FDA De Novo process for medical devices provides a marketing pathway to classify novel medical devices for which special controls are established to provide reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness but for which there is no legally marketed predicate device. Following application acceptance by FDA, De Novo submissions enter the substantive review phase where the FDA Breakthrough Device designation and an associated interactive priority review, can accelerate the process.

The Health Canada Medical Device License (MDL) authorizes manufacturers to import or sell Class II, III, and IV medical devices in Canada. The license ensures that these devices meet the necessary safety, quality, and efficacy standards as per the Medical Devices Regulations. MDL requires MDSAP certification, which the Company expects to receive shortly, at which point it will file its MDL application.

Final regulatory decisions on DrugSorb-ATR are expected from FDA and Health Canada in 2025. DrugSorb-ATR is not yet granted or approved in the U.S. or Canada, respectively.

About CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO)

CytoSorbents Corporation is a leader in the treatment of life-threatening conditions in the intensive care unit and cardiac surgery through blood purification. CytoSorbents’ proprietary blood 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. Cartridges filled with these beads can be used with standard blood pumps already in the hospital (e.g. dialysis, ECMO, heart-lung machines). CytoSorbents’ technologies are used in a number of broad applications. Two important ones are 1) the removal of blood thinners during and after cardiothoracic surgery to reduce the risk of severe bleeding and 2) the removal of inflammatory agents in common critical illnesses such as sepsis, burn injury, trauma, lung injury, liver failure, cytokine release syndrome, and pancreatitis that can lead to massive inflammation, organ failure and patient death. In these diseases, the risk of death can be extremely high, and there are few, if any, effective treatments.

CytoSorbents’ lead product, CytoSorb^®, is approved in the European Union and distributed in 76 countries worldwide, with more than 250,000 devices used cumulatively to date. CytoSorb was originally launched in the European Union under CE mark as the first cytokine adsorber. Additional CE mark extensions were granted for bilirubin and myoglobin removal in clinical conditions such as liver disease and trauma, respectively, and for ticagrelor and rivaroxaban removal in cardiothoracic surgery procedures. CytoSorb has also received FDA Emergency Use Authorization in the United States for use in adult critically ill COVID-19 patients with impending or confirmed respiratory failure, to reduce pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. CytoSorb is not yet approved in the United States.

In the U.S. and Canada, CytoSorbents is developing the DrugSorb™-ATR antithrombotic removal system, an investigational device based on an equivalent polymer technology to CytoSorb, to reduce the severity of perioperative bleeding in high-risk surgery due to blood thinning drugs. It has received two FDA Breakthrough Device Designations: one for the removal of ticagrelor and another for the removal of the direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) apixaban and rivaroxaban in a cardiopulmonary bypass circuit during urgent cardiothoracic procedures. In September 2024, the Company submitted a De Novo medical device application to the U.S. FDA requesting marketing approval to reduce the severity of perioperative bleeding in CABG patients on the antithrombotic drug ticagrelor, which was accepted for substantive review in October 2024. The Company expects to submit its completed Health Canada Medical Device License (MDL) application, pending the expected receipt of Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP) certification in the near future. DrugSorb-ATR is not yet granted or approved in the United States and Canada, respectively.

The Company has numerous marketed products and products under development based upon this unique blood purification technology protected by many issued U.S. and international patents and registered trademarks, and multiple patent applications pending, including ECOS-300CY^®, CytoSorb-XL™, HemoDefend-RBC™, HemoDefend-BGA™, VetResQ^®, K⁺ontrol™, DrugSorb™, ContrastSorb, and others. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.cytosorbents.com or follow us on Facebook and X. 

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, future targets and outlooks for our business, representations and contentions, and the outcome of our regulatory submissions, 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 14, 2024, 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.

U.S. Company Contact:
Peter J. Mariani, Chief Financial Officer
305 College Road East
Princeton, NJ 08540
pmariani@cytosorbents.com

Investor Relations Contact:
Aman Patel, CFA
ICR-Westwicke
ir@cytosorbents.com