CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) announced today that the Humanitarian
Foundation Swiss Red Cross has granted funds to Swiss Tranfusion SRC
(Blutspende SRK Schweiz) to adapt the INTERCEPT Blood System for red
blood cells for pathogen inactivation and transfusion of whole blood,
specifically for sub-Saharan African countries. The initial funding of
1.5 million Swiss Francs will support the feasibility phase of the
project and completion of in vitro studies to support patient clinical
trials.
Cerus is a key collaborator together with the SRTS Geneva, located in
the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG), and Swiss Transfusion SRC
(Blutspende SRK Schweiz) to enable the use of Cerus’ INTERCEPT
technology to demonstrate the technical feasibility of pathogen
inactivation (PI) in whole blood. Unlike developed countries, where
platelet, plasma or red cell components are transfused, the common
practice in many African countries is to transfuse whole blood.
“We believe pathogen inactivation for whole blood has the potential to
improve the safety of transfusions in sub-Saharan Africa, where
diminished blood availability due to severe anemia from malaria, HIV and
obstetric bleeding is common,” said Dr. Rudolf Schwabe, chief executive
officer of the Swiss Red Cross. “Based on our experience over the past
three years with the INTERCEPT System, we have seen first-hand the
substantial impact that pathogen inactivation has had in reducing
transfusion transmitted infectious risk in platelets and plasma; this
technology should be made available to developing countries such as
those in sub-Saharan Africa, where the risk of bacterial contamination
is about 2,500 times greater than in Switzerland, and ten to fifteen
percent of HIV infections are caused by contaminated transfusions.”
In addition to well-known transfusion-transmitted pathogens such as HIV,
HBV, HCV and bacteria, risk remains high due to pathogens that are
endemic to African countries such as chikungunya, dengue, malaria, and
Leishmania, for which screening assays may not be readily available.
"The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that safety of the blood
supply is a priority for all countries and a particular challenge in
sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dr. Edward Kelley, Acting Director for Service
Delivery and Safety at WHO. “Though not the only initiative in this area
globally, this project has particular promise and WHO has a history of
working with the University of Geneva Hospitals and Swiss blood safety
colleagues to advance safety priorities in Africa. We will be following
the progress of the project with great interest."
“We are excited to collaborate with SRTS Geneva and SRC in developing a
whole blood pathogen inactivation system that can be sustainable in
lesser developed regions which may not have the infrastructure to
support complex devices or have access to controlled temperature
storage. By leveraging our experience using the S-303 pathogen
inactivation technology in red cell components, we hope to be able to
develop a system for whole blood that does not require electricity to
inactivate pathogens or leukocytes that may be present in whole blood,”
said William ‘Obi’ Greenman, Cerus’ president and chief executive
officer. “Maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa is commonly a
function of hemorrhagic complications from childbirth, and we believe
that this technology has the potential to play a meaningful role in
improving blood safety and availability in the region and,
correspondingly, improve patient outcomes.”
ABOUT CERUS
Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused in the field
of blood safety. Cerus currently markets and sells the INTERCEPT Blood
System for both platelets and plasma in Europe, the Commonwealth of
Independent States, the Middle East and selected countries in other
regions around the world. In the United States, Cerus is seeking
regulatory approval of the INTERCEPT Blood System for plasma and
platelets. The INTERCEPT red blood cell system is in clinical
development. See http://www.cerus.com
for more information.
INTERCEPT and the INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus
Corporation.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Any
statements contained in this press release that are not statements of
historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements,
including, without limitation, statements relating to the intended
collaborative activities of the parties and the outcome of such
collaborative activities, the potential efficacy, development and
clinical evaluation of an INTERCEPT system adapted for use with whole
blood and the potential impact that a pathogen inactivation system for
whole blood could have on blood safety and availability and patient
outcomes in the sub-Saharan region. These forward-looking statements are
based upon Cerus’ current expectations. Actual results could differ
materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of certain
factors, including, without limitation, risks associated with
development and clinical evaluation of the INTERCEPT system for whole
blood and for red blood cells, the risk that available funding may not
be available to support whole blood-related activities under the
proposed collaboration, risks associated with dependence on third-party
potential collaborators to support whole blood-related development
activities and other risks detailed in the Cerus' filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including in Cerus' annual
report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, filed with the
SEC on March 7, 2014. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of
this press release. Cerus does not undertake any obligation to update
any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future
events, changed assumptions or otherwise.

Source: Cerus Corporation