CytoSorbents Announces Amendment to Loan Agreement with Bridge Bank, Receives an Additional $5 Million Cash from New Term Loan

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., Aug. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO), a critical care immunotherapy leader using its CytoSorb® blood purification technology to treat deadly inflammation in critically-ill and cardiac surgery patients around the world, announces it has received an additional $5 million in cash through an amended loan agreement with Bridge Bank’s Life Sciences Group.

On July 31, 2019 (the Settlement Date”), the Company entered into the First Amendment to the 2018 Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement with Bridge Bank. This amendment provided the Company with $5 million of cash proceeds from an additional term loan (Term Loan B) and extended the interest-only period for the original $10 million loan (Term Loan A) and Term Loan B through April 2020, with the ability to further extend the interest-only period through October 2020, provided that certain conditions are met.

The 2018 Success Fee Letter (the “Letter”) was also amended.  Under the amended terms, the Company will pay a Success Fee to the Bank in an amount equal to 6.37% of the funded amount of the Term B Loan upon the first occurrence of a “Liquidity Event”. A Liquidity Event, as defined by the Letter,  was amended to include either a traditional change in control of the company, or an increase in the closing price per share for the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market that is the greater of (i) 70% or more over $7.05 (the closing price of the Company’s common stock on March 28, 2018) for five consecutive business days, or (ii) at least 26.13% more than the average price of Company’s common stock for the 365 day period ending on the Settlement Date.

“This loan amendment represents a key milestone for our Company that has the potential to increase our working capital by approximately $9 million, by providing an additional $5 million of working capital and potentially deferring the repayment of $4 million of principal by 12 months that was previously scheduled to begin in November 2019.  But most importantly, it strengthens our balance sheet and provides additional operating capital for us to continue the aggressive pursuit of our clinical trial objectives and to rapidly grow worldwide product sales,” stated Ms. Kathleen P. Bloch, CPA, MBA, Chief Financial Officer of CytoSorbents. “We are pleased to expand our excellent relationship with Bridge Bank, a premier lending institution with a broad scope of financial services.”

“We have been working with CytoSorbents for the past three years and are excited to continue our relationship with this rapidly growing and dynamic company that is helping to save lives,” said Ms. Lindsay Fouty, Vice President in Bridge Bank’s Life Sciences Group.  “We are pleased to contribute to the success and evolution of the Company with attractive growth capital and flexible payment terms.”

About Bridge Bank

Bridge Bank, a division of Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC, helps business clients realize their growth ambitions. Founded in 2001 in Silicon Valley, Bridge Bank offers a better way to bank for small-market and middle-market businesses across many industries, as well as emerging technology companies and the private equity community. Geared to serving both venture-backed and non-venture-backed companies, Bridge Bank delivers a broad scope of financial solutions including growth capital, equipment and working capital credit facilities, sustainable energy project finance, venture debt, treasury management, asset-based lending, SBA and commercial real estate loans, ESOP finance and a full line of international products and services. Based in San Jose, Bridge Bank has eight offices in major markets across the country along with Western Alliance Bank’s powerful array of specialized financial services. Western Alliance Bank is the primary subsidiary of Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bancorporation. One of the country’s top-performing banking companies, Western Alliance is ranked #1 regional bank by S&P Global Market Intelligence for 2018 and in the top 10 on the Forbes “Best Banks in America” list for four consecutive years, 2016-2019.  For more information, visit www.bridgebank.com.

About CytoSorbents Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSO)

CytoSorbents Corporation is a leader in critical care immunotherapy, specializing in blood purification. Its flagship product, CytoSorb® is approved in the European Union with distribution in 55 countries around the world, as an extracorporeal cytokine adsorber designed to reduce the “cytokine storm” or “cytokine release syndrome” that could otherwise cause massive inflammation, organ failure and death in common critical illnesses. 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 that can lead to post-operative complications, including multiple organ failure. CytoSorbents is conducting its pivotal REFRESH 2-AKI trial – a multi-center, randomized controlled, clinical trial intended to support U.S. regulatory approval of CytoSorb for use in a heart-lung machine during complex cardiac surgery to reduce organ injury.  CytoSorb® has been used in more than 61,000 human treatments to date.

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. Its technologies have received non-dilutive grant, contract, and other funding of nearly $26 million from DARPA, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and others. The Company has numerous products under development based upon this unique blood purification technology protected by many issued U.S. and international patents and multiple applications pending, including CytoSorb-XL™, HemoDefend™, VetResQ™, K⁺ontrol™, ContrastSorb, DrugSorb, and others.  For more information, please visit the Company’s websites at www.cytosorbents.com and www.cytosorb.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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 7, 2019, 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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Cytosorbents Contact:
Amy Vogel
Investor Relations
(732) 398-5394
[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact:
Jeremy Feffer
LifeSci Advisors
917-749-1494
[email protected]

U.S. Public Relations Contact:
Joshua Berkman
Rubenstein Public Relations
212-805-3055
[email protected]

SOURCE CytoSorbents Corporation