CONCORD, Calif. & APPLETON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) announced today that The Community
Blood Center (CBC) has signed a purchase agreement for the INTERCEPT
Blood System for platelets and plasma, becoming the first blood center
in Wisconsin to commit to implementation of pathogen reduction
technology. CBC delivers blood components to 17 hospitals in the state
of Wisconsin and one in the state of Michigan, distributing
approximately 13,500 platelet and 11,500 plasma units annually.
“Providing safe and reliable blood components to the hospitals and
patients in our community is of top priority for us,” said John Hagins,
CBC’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “INTERCEPT will allow us to
take a proactive approach against transfusion-transmitted infections,
making a partnership with Cerus an obvious choice.”
“The blood components provided by CBC are vital to the community
hospitals they serve,” commented William "Obi" Greenman, Cerus’
President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are pleased that they have
chosen to implement the INTERCEPT Blood System to ensure that the
platelet and plasma components reaching their patients are of the
highest safety standard available.”
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY BLOOD CENTER
The Community Blood Center provides 100% of the blood used by patients
in 18 hospitals in Wisconsin and Michigan, with neighborhood donor
centers in Appleton, Oshkosh, Little Chute, and Woodruff. Last year,
volunteer donors gave more than 50,000 blood donations with the CBC. The
non-profit blood center has been committed to providing a safe, reliable
blood supply for hospital patients since 1955. CBC is a member of
America’s Blood Centers, North America’s largest network of
community-based, independent blood centers, providing more than 50% of
the nation’s blood supply. See www.communityblood.org
for more information.
ABOUT CERUS
Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused in the field
of blood transfusion safety. The INTERCEPT Blood System is designed to
reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections 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 of the INTERCEPT treatment is designed to inactivate established
transfusion threats, such as Hepatitis B and C, HIV, West Nile Virus and
bacteria, as well as emerging pathogens such as chikungunya, malaria and
dengue. Cerus currently markets and sells the INTERCEPT Blood System for
both platelets and plasma in the United States, 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 www.cerus.com
for more information about Cerus.
INTERCEPT and the INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus
Corporation.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151201005643/en/
Source: Cerus Corporation