CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) today announced today that it has
entered into agreements with Ilex Biotech Limited to distribute Cerus’
INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma in South Africa and
Israel. 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.
Under the terms of the agreements, Ilex will promote the sales,
deployment and support of the INTERCEPT platelet system in South Africa
and Israel. Approximately 75,000 platelet units and 175,000 plasma units
are collected annually in these markets.
“I am impressed with Ilex’s demonstrated success in bringing
state-of-the-art blood safety technologies to South Africa, where the
high rate of HIV-positive donations creates an exceptional challenge to
transfusion safety,” said William “Obi” Greenman, president and chief
executive officer of Cerus Corporation. “We look forward to working with
Ilex to bring INTERCEPT pathogen inactivation to both South Africa and
Israel.”
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 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, the Commonwealth of Independent States,
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.
Source: Cerus Corporation