Efthymios N. Deliargyris, MD, FACC, FESC, FSCAI has been appointed Chief Medical Officer at CytoSorbents Corporation to begin employment on May 1, 2020.
Dr Efthymios Deliargyris brings over 19 years of experience in both academic medicine and industry to the position of Chief Medical Officer. From 2010-2016, Dr. Deliargyris held roles of increasing responsibility as Vice President, European Medical Director, based in Munich, Germany and Global Medical Lead – Acute Cardiovascular Care at The Medicines Company, acquired by Novartis AG this year. Most recently Dr. Deliargyris was Chief Medical Officer of PLx Pharma, a NASDAQ-traded, U.S. specialty pharmaceutical company.
Dr. Deliargyris’ clinical expertise spans all aspects of critical care medicine and cardiovascular disease. In addition, his original research, including large, seminal clinical trials in thrombosis and anti-thrombotic drugs is internationally recognized with more than 100 publications in top journals and multiple awards, including the prestigious Society of Cardiac Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) Fellowship Award for best research in interventional cardiology.
Dr Efthymios Deliargyris efforts contributed to bivalirudin’s blockbuster status in interventional cardiology and to the approval of cangrelor, a P2Y12 receptor antagonist in the same anti-platelet class as ticagrelor, in both the U.S. and Europe. Dr. Deliargyris is an elected Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC), European Society of Cardiology (FESC) and Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions (FSCAI).
Dr Efthymios Deliargyris commented, “I am very excited about joining this talented executive team during a time of tremendous progress as evidenced by FDA Emergency Use Authorization of CytoSorb for critically-ill COVID-19 patients, and also FDA Breakthrough Designation for removal of ticagrelor during on-pump emergent and urgent cardiothoracic surgery. Whether silencing the cytokine storm or eliminating the risk of life-threating bleeding, CytoSorb is a game-changer with the potential to save thousands of lives and millions of healthcare dollars. We plan to design and execute a world-class clinical trial program and generate the necessary data to support regulatory approvals and establish CytoSorb as a life-saving therapy in multiple indications in the intensive care unit and cardiac surgery.”
Dr. Phillip Chan, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of CytoSorbents stated, “We are thrilled to have Efthymios (“Makis”) join CytoSorbents to lead worldwide clinical activity in critical care and cardiac surgery applications during this exciting chapter at our company. His extensive expertise in cardiology, interventional cardiology, and the treatment of complications of critical illnesses such as shock, through many years of clinical practice, clinical trial research, and industry focus, make him well-suited for this task.”
Dr. Chan continued, “A new exciting growth opportunity for the company is the recent European Union approval of CytoSorb to remove the widely-used blood thinner, ticagrelor, during emergent or urgent cardiothoracic surgery. Left unopposed, ticagrelor can cause serious, life-threatening perioperative bleeding complications. Our goal is to make CytoSorb a standard of care therapy for this application. Makis is a subject matter expert in the clinical development, usage, and complications of anti-coagulants and anti-thrombotics such as ticagrelor, cangrelor, bivalirudin, and aspirin. Throughout his international career, Makis has forged strong relationships with collaborators and key opinion leaders around the world in this therapeutic area that have been crucial in changing clinical practice. Because of this, we believe Makis can help to accelerate the awareness and usage of CytoSorb for this purpose throughout the world, and is the ideal person to leverage the FDA Breakthrough Designation announced last week, and collaborate with the FDA to support U.S. approval of CytoSorb for this application as well.”
Dr Efthymios Deliargyris received his Medical Degree from the Kapodistrian University School of Medicine in Athens, Greece and completed his residency in internal medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston where he also served as Chief Resident. He completed his fellowship in cardiology and interventional cardiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he also served as Chief Fellow.
Prior to joining industry, Dr. Deliargyris served as Director of Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology at Athens Medical Center in Greece and previously as Assistant Professor of Cardiology and Director of the Intravascular Ultrasound Lab at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC.
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