CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) announced today that Dr. Frank Witney,
president and chief executive officer of Affymetrix, has joined its
board of directors and the compensation committee. Dr. Witney joins the
board with over 30 years of experience in the life science industry,
specifically focused on corporate strategy and commercialization of
products in the life science tools and diagnostics space. Dr. Witney
will be filling the board seat recently left vacant by B.J. Cassin upon
his retirement from the board on December 31, 2013.
“On behalf of the management team and board of directors, I am delighted
to welcome Dr. Witney to Cerus,” said Obi Greenman, president and chief
executive officer of Cerus Corporation. “His extensive commercial
experience in the life science space will serve as a valuable asset to
the Company as we prepare for a possible launch of our INTERCEPT
platelet and plasma products in the U.S.”
Prior to his current position at Affymetrix, Dr. Witney served as
president and chief executive officer of Dionex Corp. from April 2009
through its $2.1 billion sale to Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. in May
2011. Dr. Witney served as the executive vice president and chief
commercial officer of Affymetrix until April 2009, following
Affymetrix’s acquisition of Panomics, Inc., where he had been president
and chief executive officer since July 2002. Dr. Witney was a
post-doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health and holds a
Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and an M.S. in Microbiology from
Indiana University, and a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of
Illinois.
ABOUT CERUS
Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused in the field
of blood safety. 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.
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 a potential
commercial launch of the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma
in the U.S.. These forward-looking statements are based upon the
company’s 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 and regulatory process, including the risk
that Cerus may encounter unanticipated difficulties complying with the
prescribed submission timing or other modular PMA requirements related
to the INTERCEPT Blood System for plasma or for platelets or that Cerus‘
PMA submissions might not be approved by the FDA in a timely manner or
at all, risks associated with the commercialization and market
acceptance of the INTERCEPT Blood System, as well as other risks
detailed in the Cerus' filings with, the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), including in Cerus' annual report on Form 10-K for the
quarter ended December 31, 2013, filed with the SEC on March 7, 2014.
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