The period of innovation is upon us. It really has been upon us for decades. The spirit of innovation has led to the emergence of new technologies which contribute to the ever-growing efficiency of our markets, services, and companies as a whole. In the finance industry, blockchain and cryptocurrencies are revolutionizing how people exchange money and interact. In the technology industry, artificial intelligence is generating opportunities that have never been possible before. These technologies are also having an impact on the health services industry, along with other new innovations. One of the most revolutionary to date is the CytoSorb.
The CytoSorb is a filter which is the invention of Vadim Davankov, an adviser to US medical device company CytoSorbents Corp. In addition, Davankov serves as the department head of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The filter works as it is attached to the blood-pumping equipment which hospital already uses. From there, the filter uses tiny polymer beads contained in a cartridge. Those beads are able to remove toxins, which often cause damaging inflammation, from a patient’s circulatory system.
At first glance, the science beyond the technology is not all that clear. The cartridges, which are about the size of a standard drinking glass, contain millions of the tiny polymer beads. To utilize the cartridge, blood is funneled through the cartridge. The essential substances, like blood cells and antibodies, flow right through the cartridge, while the toxins are trapped inside. The cartridge system alone can serve as a treatment for a number of diseases/illnesses with recurring treatment. For instance, with sepsis, which is the complication of an infection, requires the use of the CytoSorb three to five times to treat the complication.
To this point, the CytoSorb treatment, which is referred to as more of a therapy, has been approved for use in 53 countries around the world. In those countries, nearly 50,000 cartridges have been used, with each cartridge costing about $1,000. In the European Union, the cartridges are specifically used to treat sepsis. At this time, the therapy has not been approved for use in the United States. However, the chairman of the department of critical care medicine at the Cleveland Clinic believes that CytoSorb is a promising concept and sees it use in the US as the next step. CytoSorbent plans to officially present their trial findings in the US trial in 2020; however, certain hospitals can already use their cartridges for special case emergencies.
CytoSorbent was able to gain such success in its therapy due to its massive amount of funding. The company has a market value of nearly $450 million and has been funded in large part by the Pentagon, US Armed Forces, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the German government.
For the time being, the future of the therapy is the US is unclear, but recent projections from CytoSorbents suggested with expanded use in the US and increased use for other various diseases, CytoSorbent could create a $20 billion market for the therapy.
