- World's only CRP blood wash therapy increasingly used in COVID-19 patients
- CRP blood wash can also help preserve intensive care capacities
Hennigsdorf, 21.04.2021 – Pentracor GmbH, a medical technology company based in Hennigsdorf near Berlin (convertible bond ISIN: DE000A289XB9, WKN: A289XB), active in the dynamically growing healthcare sector, has achieved further promising treatment successes with its CE-certified and patent-protected medical product PentraSorb® CRP in patients with severe COVID-19 courses. For example, the Havelhöhe Community Hospital in Berlin has been using Pentracor's new therapeutic extracorporeal treatment method for severely ill COVID-19 patients for several weeks and has already achieved a significant improvement in the patients' clinical condition after a short period of time.
Doctors at the Diamedikum Potsdam dialysis center had already successfully treated a COVID-19 patient with this special blood washing method for the first time in January. This blood wash reduces the concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP). In this case, CRP apheresis had contributed significantly to improving the 53-year-old patient's critical condition due to illness and prevented an extremely likely intensive care treatment under artificial respiration. This case had already generated considerable clinical interest, especially as hospitals in Germany are increasingly overloaded due to the Corona pandemic. Since the end of last week, the Klinikverbund Allgäu has also been relying on the medical product PentraSorb® CRP in its fight against the often fatal effects of the pandemic.
Pentracor CEO Ahmed Sheriff: "After the initial treatment successes, we see our developed CRP apheresis as a valuable therapy option for other patients with severe COVID-19 courses. Ideally, however, our procedure would be used early in the disease, before ventilation, because the CRP then has no opportunity to do damage to the patient's cells."
The treatment does not target the corona virus itself, but it can prevent potentially life-threatening consequences of the infection. COVID-19 patients have a high likelihood of ending up in an intensive care unit on a ventilator if CRP levels rise rapidly. In many diseases, the C-reactive protein plays a dangerous dual role: as a biomarker, the protein not only indicates an existing inflammation, but is also actively involved in excessive immune reactions and can cause lasting damage to healthy tissue. The protein and its functions have been known for several decades, but CRP gained additional importance in the course of the Corona pandemic, because elevated CRP levels are measured in the blood of many COVID-19 patients, especially in severe courses. The CRP amount or rather the rapid CRP increase predicts the severe course of COVID-19.
PentraSorb® as the world's only therapy for CRP blood washing
In the case of corona disease, as in other applications, PentraSorb® CRP extracorporeally filters the excessively produced endogenous protein CRP from the patient's blood. This blood wash prevents the protein CRP from increasing in the body due to the inflammatory response triggered by the corona virus and indirectly damaging organs in the long term. Ahmed Sheriff: "It is not the virus that destroys the lungs, but rather the inflammation caused by the viral infection. The CRP level in the blood then rises very rapidly. This fulminant rise can be stopped if our CRP adsorber is used in time."
The Pentracor GmbH offers with its medical product PentraSorb® CRP a new therapeutic, extracorporeal treatment method. This is used primarily to sustainably curb progressive internal tissue damage in patients after acute events such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Research in this area began in 2003 at the university level. PentraSorb® CRP is CE-certified, patent-protected and reimbursed by all health insurance companies in Germany. Ahmed Sheriff: "PentraSorb® CRP has sustainable benefits for all parties involved: for patients whose lives can be saved or where partial organ insufficiencies can be contained. Likewise, the treating physicians, hospitals or outpatient clinics, and the health care system benefit, since chronic organ insufficiencies that require continuous follow-up treatment at great expense can be prevented. In the case of COVID-19, hospitals could be significantly relieved. Moreover, the patients would not have to deal with consequential damage, or would have to do so to a much lesser extent. In addition, fatalities would very likely be reduced."
Wide range of applications in the growing healthcare market
PentraSorb® CRP is not subject to any restrictions of use for specific disease patterns, as is, on the other hand, indispensable for drugs for each individual field of application. For example, CRP apheresis can also be used for stroke patients and rheumatic diseases. In the EU, the blood wash filter is patent-protected. It is used outside the body in combination with conventional dialysis-type systems. In the indicated cases, it filters the harmful so-called C-Reactive Protein (CRP) from the blood plasma. Further flanking patents in the relevant markets in the United States of America and Asia have been granted. PentraSorb® CRP has been fully approved as a CE-certified medical device since November 2014. It has been reimbursed by all health insurance companies in Germany since 2018 and has been in use since then.
About the Pentracor GmbH
Pentracor GmbH, a spin-off from the university environment, was founded in 2010. With the solution PentraSorb® CRP is a completely new therapeutic, extracorporeal treatment method with a unique selling point for sustainably containing progressive internal tissue damage in patients after acute events such as heart attack or stroke. By filtering the blood plasma outside the body, the so-called C-reactive protein (CRP), which causes the tissue damage, is selectively removed. Pentracor has extensive know-how, protected by patents, regarding the use and production of the adsorber PentraSorb® CRP. Apheresis with Pentracor's medical device PentraSorb® CRP is the world's only available therapy that can selectively lower the level of CRP in the body and thus achieve better treatment results in acute events such as heart attacks. PentraSorb® CRP has been fully approved as a CE-certified medical device since 2014 and has been reimbursed by all health insurance companies in Germany by means of an additional charge since November 2018.
Company contact | Financial and economic press |
Selected media report on the topic:
rbb Abendschau from 04/17/2021: "Amazingly successful treatment: blood washing against Corona" (TV report)
