-- Hemolife becomes the first to offer pathogen reduced platelets
in Colombia --
CONCORD, Calif. & BOGOTA, Colombia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS), a biomedical products company focused
in the field of blood transfusion safety, announced today that Hemolife
Fundación Banco Nacional de Sangre (Hemolife) is now offering
INTERCEPT-treated pathogen reduced platelet units to its hospitals.
Hemolife, the first blood center to enter into routine use with
INTERCEPT in Colombia, distributes approximately 12,000 platelet units
to hospitals annually.
“Transmission of pathogens via blood transfusion is a significant threat
throughout Latin America, with serious outbreaks of viruses such as
Zika, dengue, and chikungunya becoming more prevalent,” commented
William “Obi” Greenman, Cerus’ president and chief executive officer.
“Hemolife is an organization at the forefront of transfusion medicine in
Colombia. Adding INTERCEPT allows them to offer their hospitals a
product that is proactively protected against these types of pathogens
that have the potential to harm patients.”
The INTERCEPT Blood System leverages the fact that platelets and plasma
do not require functional DNA or RNA, as opposed to pathogens and donor
white blood cells. Pathogen reduction via the INTERCEPT Blood System is
designed to block the replication process so that harmful viruses,
bacteria, and parasites can no longer replicate and cause disease.
“This technology represents a leap forward in safeguarding the blood
supply against harmful pathogens, which fits with our mission to take
advantage of the latest technological advances in transfusion medicine,”
commented Dr. Miguel German Rueda, president of the board of Hemolife
foundation. “We are proud to provide INTERCEPT-treated platelets to
hospitals in Colombia.”
In November 2015, the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma
received approval from the Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de
Medicamentos y Alimentos (INVIMA) for commercial use in Colombia. Cerus
is partnered with Laboratories Dai de Colombia S.A. for the sales,
deployment, and support of the INTERCEPT Blood System in Colombia.
ABOUT HEMOLIFE
Hemolife is a foundation formed by medical specialists in the field of
clinical pathology, transfusion medicine, cell transplantation, and
applied neurology, under the common goal of providing products and
services of the highest quality, taking advantage of technological
advances in different fields to obtain the best clinical results. In
addition, in fields such as therapeutic apheresis, Hemolife provides
services that reduce overall morbidity in diseases susceptible to this
type of treatment. In stem cell transplantation and gene therapy,
specialists have extensive knowledge and national and international
training, providing services that meet the needs of today’s frontiers of
medicine required by various pathologies.
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 INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus Corporation.
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Source: Cerus Corporation