CONCORD, Calif. & PETACH-TIKVA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) and Ilex BioTech Ltd. announced today
that the INTERCEPT Blood System has received regulatory approval in
Israel for the treatment of platelets and plasma intended for
transfusion. 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.
“Ilex has a history of successfully implementing innovative blood safety
technology, and we see INTERCEPT as the next logical step to safeguard
patients from transfusion-transmitted infections,” said Dr. Moshe
Benshaul, chief executive officer of Ilex.
Under an agreement signed last year, Ilex is responsible for sales,
deployment and support of the INTERCEPT platelet and plasma systems in
Israel and South Africa. Approximately 35,000 platelet units and 75,000
plasma units are collected annually in Israel.
“Ilex’s rapid regulatory progress in Israel shows the value of working
with experienced local distribution partners,” said Carol Moore, Cerus’
vice president, regulatory affairs, quality and clinical. “These
achievements are also a testament to the extensive INTERCEPT regulatory
dossiers and the accumulated clinical trial data from multiple phase 3
studies and routine use in Europe. This has facilitated our approvals in
France, Germany and Switzerland and we believe it will continue to be a
critical asset as we pursue additional regulatory approvals globally.”
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.
ABOUT ILEX
Ilex BioTech is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ilex Medical Ltd.,
specializing in blood banks and molecular diagnostics. Ilex Medical
(since 1977) is a part of Ilex group, which is publicly traded on the
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since 1995 (TASE:ILX). Ilex Medical’s main focus
is in in-vitro diagnostics equipment, reagents, laboratory management
software, blood bank diagnostic kits, and diagnostic support services to
the healthcare establishment in Israel as well as in emerging markets
like Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS. Ilex serves major clients
including the Israeli Ministry of Health, all four major Israeli HMOs
(serving seven million members), diabetes clinics and medical research
institutions, the Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps, major public and
private health organizations in South Africa and blood banks in Israel,
South Africa and Russia.
INTERCEPT and 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 pursuit
of regulatory approvals in new markets. 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
the uncertain and time-consuming regulatory process, and 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 September 30, 2011, filed with the SEC on November 3,
2011. 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