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TILAK, University Clinics, Regional Hospital Innsbruck (LKI), one of
the largest hospitals in Austria, signs one year agreement for Cerus'
INTERCEPT platelet system.
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ZIT GmbH Hamburg (Zentralinstitut Hamburg), the largest in-house blood
component supplier of the German Asklepios Group, signs four year
agreement for the INTERCEPT Blood System for pathogen inactivation of
platelet components.
CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) announced today that the TILAK,
University Clinics, Regional Hospital Innsbruck (LKI) in Austria and ZIT
GmbH Hamburg in Germany, signed one and four year purchase agreements,
respectively, for the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets.
LKI is one of the largest hospitals in Austria, with its Central
Institute for Blood Transfusion supplying an estimated 6,000 platelet
units annually to the federal state of Tyrol. LKI is the second facility
in Austria to adopt INTERCEPT for platelets. Together with the General
Hospital of Vienna (AKH), an estimated total of 12,000 platelet units,
or 30% of the Austrian platelet market, could be treated with INTERCEPT.
Implementation of the INTERCEPT platelet system at LKI is expected to
start in March 2013.
ZIT Hamburg supplies roughly 10,000 platelet units annually and is the
largest in-house blood component supplier to the Asklepios Group, one of
the three largest operators of private hospitals in Germany.
Implementation is expected to occur upon ZIT Hamburg’s receipt of
regulatory approval from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut to produce
INTERCEPT-treated platelets.
“Considering the inherent limitations and increasing cost of the current
testing strategies used for platelets, we believe the INTERCEPT Blood
System for platelets offers a strong value proposition that combines
patient safety with commercial benefits,” stated O. Schertges, CEO of
the ZIT Hamburg.
“We believe the breadth of clinical and routine-use data for INTERCEPT
platelets accumulated over the last 10 years may have positively
influenced the decisions made by LKI and ZIT Hamburg,” said William
‘Obi’ Greenman, Cerus’ president and chief executive officer. “It is
this clinical experience and hemovigilance data that led to FDA’s recent
agreement to allow Cerus to proceed with a modular PMA submission for
INTERCEPT platelets without the need to conduct another prospective
clinical trial.”
ABOUT CERUS
Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on enhancing
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. In the United States, Cerus is seeking regulatory approval of the
INTERCEPT Blood System for plasma, and is in the process of determining
the application shell for a potential regulatory submission for the
INTERCEPT Blood System for 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.
Except for the historical statements contained herein, this press
release contains forward-looking statements concerning Cerus’ products,
prospects and results, including statements regarding the expected
implementation schedules of the INTERCEPT platelet system at LKI and ZIT
Hamburg. Actual results could differ materially from these
forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including,
without limitation, risks associated with demand for the INTERCEPT Blood
System, including the risk that purchases of the platelet system may be
less than anticipated thereunder, risks relating to Cerus’ ability to
meet its supply obligations, risks associated with Cerus’ ability to
achieve broader market acceptance of its INTERCEPT Blood System products
and risks associated with obtaining regulatory approvals, as well as
other risks detailed in Cerus’ filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including Cerus’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended September 30, 2012 filed with the SEC on November 8, 2012.
Cerus disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
Source: Cerus Corporation