CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) announced today that it has entered into
an agreement with CSL Limited, Biotherapies division to distribute
Cerus' INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets in Australia and New
Zealand. The INTERCEPT Blood System is designed to provide increased
protection from a broad range of transfusion-transmitted pathogens,
including bacteria and emerging pathogens such as the dengue and
chikungunya viruses. Approximately 140,000 platelet units are collected
annually in Australia and New Zealand.
Under terms of the agreement, CSL and Cerus will promote the sales,
deployment and support of the INTERCEPT platelet system in Australia and
New Zealand. Cerus expects that should the blood services plan to adopt
the system, they will need to obtain approval for use of INTERCEPT
treated platelets from their respective national regulatory authorities.
"We believe that CSL, as one of the largest biopharmaceutical companies
in the world, is an ideal partner to bring INTERCEPT to these new
markets," said Claes Glassell, president and chief executive officer of
Cerus Corporation. "CSL has a long history of supporting the safety of
blood supply in both Australia and New Zealand."
ABOUT CERUS
Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on
commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. The
INTERCEPT system is designed to reduce the risk of
transfusion-transmitted diseases by inactivating a broad range of
pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and parasites that may be present in
donated blood. The nucleic acid targeting mechanism of action enables
INTERCEPT treatment to inactivate both established transfusion threats,
such as hepatitis B and C, HIV, West Nile virus and bacteria, and is
designed to inactivate emerging pathogens such as influenza, malaria and
dengue. Cerus currently markets and sells the INTERCEPT Blood System for
both platelets and plasma in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and
selected countries in other regions around the world. 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 regulatory agency
approvals, the market potential for the INTERCEPT Blood System and
customer acceptance of INTERCEPT products. Words such as "believe" and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are based upon the company's current
expectations. Actual results could differ materially from these
forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including,
without limitation, risks related to whether the INTERCEPT products will
receive regulatory approvals, risks associated with market acceptance of
the INTERCEPT Blood System, as well as other risks detailed in the
Cerus' filings with, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),
including in Cerus' quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
June 30, 2010, filed with the SEC on August 16, 2010. No pathogen
inactivation system has been shown to inactivate all pathogens. 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