CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) announced today that it has secured a
$10 million growth capital credit facility from Oxford Finance
Corporation. The credit facility provided a $5 million loan to Cerus
upon closing, which occurred on March 31, 2010, and allows Cerus to draw
an additional $5 million between September 30, 2010 and December 31,
2010. The credit facility is secured by Cerus' assets other than
intellectual property.
"We are pleased to be working with Oxford Finance and to have put in
place a non-dilutive growth capital facility," said Kevin D. Green, vice
president, finance and chief accounting officer of Cerus Corporation.
"We believe this financing provides us with the capital necessary to
continue growing our European platelet and plasma business and realize
our plan of driving that business to profitability."
"Oxford prides itself on providing capital to companies like Cerus with
strong management teams and leading technologies," said J. Alden
Philbrick, president and chief executive officer of Oxford Finance
Corporation. "We believe the capital we are providing to Cerus
effectively leverages their assets and steadily growing INTERCEPT
revenue base."
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 allows
INTERCEPT treatment to inactivate both established transfusion threats,
such as hepatitis, HIV, West Nile virus and bacteria, as well as
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.
ABOUT OXFORD
Oxford Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, is a
specialty finance firm providing senior secured loans to public and
private life science companies worldwide. For 20 years, Oxford has
delivered flexible financing solutions to its clients, enabling these
companies to maximize their equity by leveraging their assets. In recent
years, Oxford has originated over $1 billion in loans, with lines of
credit ranging from $500 thousand to $30 million. Oxford is
headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, with additional offices in
California and Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.oxfordfinance.com.
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 potential draws
against the credit facility, expansion of Cerus'
commercial operations and plans to achieve profitability. Actual
results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as
a result of certain factors, including, without limitation, risks
associated with the commercialization and market acceptance of the
INTERCEPT Blood System, the sufficiency of Cerus' cash resources as well
as other risks detailed in Cerus' filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including Cerus' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2009. 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