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Serves as follow-on agreement to initial three-year purchase agreement
in 2010
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Demonstrates continued national commitment for use of INTERCEPT Blood
System for pathogen inactivation of platelets in Switzerland
CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) announced today that it has renewed its
contract with the Transfusion Service of the Swiss Red Cross (Blutspende
SRK Schweiz) by entering into a five-year purchase agreement for the
INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets.
“We are delighted to support the Swiss Red Cross in its utilization of
pathogen inactivation with INTERCEPT to secure the safety of platelet
components across the country,” said Caspar Hogeboom, president of Cerus
Europe. “We are proud to continue this strong partnership with the Swiss
Red Cross in its critical mission.”
The new five-year agreement follows the initial three-year purchase
agreement between Cerus and the Swiss Red Cross, signed in 2010. In
addition to the five-year base term in the new agreement, the agreement
also allows for automatic extensions in additional two-year increments
for purchase of the INTERCEPT Blood System.
“Since our initial deployment of the INTERCEPT Blood System for
platelets in 2011, and after transfusion of approximately 100,000
INTERCEPT-treated platelet therapeutic doses, Swiss haemovigilance data
have demonstrated a favourable safety profile compared to conventional
platelets,” said Dr. Behrouz Mansouri, chief medical officer of the
Transfusion Service of the Swiss Red Cross. “These improvements in
transfusion safety are important benefits for all patients receiving
platelet transfusions across Switzerland.”
Following up on national haemovigilance data presented by the Swiss Red
Cross and Swissmedic earlier this year at the 15th International
Haemovigilance Seminar, Swissmedic recently released its Haemovigilance
Annual Report 2012, including a description of the country’s cumulative
experience with INTERCEPT-treated platelet components since the 2011
introduction. These data showed a reduction in the number and severity
of non-infection-related transfusion reactions after transfusion of
INTERCEPT-treated platelets (2011-2012) compared to conventional
platelet components (2009-2011). In addition, no cases of platelet
component transfusion-transmitted bacterial or viral infection were
reported in 2012. With the introduction of the INTERCEPT technology, the
use of whole blood derived platelets shifted from 14% in 2010 to 34% in
2012, improving the utilization of donated blood. In addition, the
overall demand for blood components did not increase with exclusive
utilization of INTERCEPT-treated platelet components.
“The Swiss Red Cross is committed to the safety of our blood supply,”
said Dr. Rudolf Schwabe, chief executive officer of the Transfusion
Service of the Swiss Red Cross. “Following the decision of the
Transfusion Service of the Swiss Red Cross and Swissmedic to implement
pathogen inactivation of platelets, we introduced the INTERCEPT Blood
System for platelets into routine use, and we are extremely pleased to
continue our use of this system into the future.”
The Swissmedic Haemovigilance Annual Report 2012 (Autumn 2013) is
available for download on the Swissmedic website at http://www.swissmedic.ch/marktueberwachung/00159/00160/00437/index.html?lang=en.
ABOUT CERUS
Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused in the field
of blood safety. The company’s INTERCEPT Blood System has been
demonstrated to inactivate a broad range of viruses, bacteria and
parasites that may be present in donated blood, including established
threats such as hepatitis B and C, 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, 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 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.
Source: Cerus Corporation