CytoSorbents Is At The Forefront Of Blood Purification. Targets $20 Billion Opportunity In Critical Care.

Based on its unique porous polymer bead technology, CytoSorb is proven and effective at treating deadly inflammation due to illnesses (flu, sepsis, burns, etc.) and cardiac surgery.  This plug and play $1,000 blood filter (80% gross margins) is compatible with a hospital’s existing medical equipment, plus home care equipment.

This morning the Data Safety Monitoring Board overseeing REMOVE, CytoSorbents‘ Germany-based study funded by the German government, recommended that the study continue because of favorable results achieved in 50 cases thus far.  REMOVE has been evaluating safety and efficacy of CytoSorb in patients undergoing heart valve replacement surgery who are suffering from infective endocarditis.

Infective endocarditis is an infection of either the heart’s inner lining (endocardium) or the heart valves.  IE is a serious and sometimes fatal illness.

According to Zacks Small Cap Research, this REMOVE study could be a win-win for CytoSorbents, potentially providing robust evidence of CytoSorb’s utility in a large and growing patient population (an already completed 39-patient case study indicated potential utility of CytoSorb in infective endocarditis, a growing problem among IV drug users which share dirty needles) and doing so at little or no cost to the company as the study is being fully funded by the German government.

Germany’s study holds added importance when considering that success of REMOVE could ultimately guide and/or help dictate a pathway for regulatory approval in the U.S.

Fresenius is one of the largest companies providing care to people with renal and other chronic conditions.  Through its industry-leading network of +3,800 dialysis clinics worldwide (locations in +150 countries), Fresenius performs approximately 48.2 million dialysis treatments annually.

Fresenius generated more than $20 billion in revenues last year.  Every 0.7 seconds they’re providing a dialysis treatment to someone somewhere across the globe.

…not a bad customer for CytoSorbents to have, and the relationship is expanding!

Under a recently signed multi-year contract Fresenius has exclusive rights to distribute CytoSorb for acute care and other hospital applications across Mexico and Korea.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with CytoSorbents to introduce CytoSorb to the Mexican healthcare system.  In the country each year, hundreds of thousands of lives are lost at a tremendous human and economic cost from hyperinflammatory conditions such as sepsis, trauma, acute liver disease, and lung injury due to a lack of effective therapies.  We hope to change this with CytoSorb,” said Mr. Alfredo Merino, CEO Fresenius Mexico.

Throughout both countries, with a combined population of 180 million, there is an increasing burden of illness and rising healthcare costs associated with deadly inflammatory conditions like sepsis.  Additionally, there’s a growing need for continuous renal replacement therapies (CRRT) for acuted kidney injury and cytokine removal within intensive care units.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it:  “You’ve got to love this chart.”  CytoSorb is an absolute NEED, without question.  Given underlying healthcare trends and their expansion into new countries with Fresenius, what direction would you expect sales to go from here?

Partly thanks to a topsy turvy stock market, CTSO has been cut in half from an all-time high of $15 to below $8.  In my humble opinion, every share of CTSO is a high-quality piece of equity.  The underlying business is growing like gangbusters, 3 year CAGR is 77%, and CytoSorbents shouldn’t need any outside money anytime soon (if ever).  Therefore, each piece of equity should only increase in value over the coming years.  It’s one you just tuck away, forget about, and feel good about.