CONCORD, Calif. & BERN, Switzerland & GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS), announced today that the Swiss Red
Cross Humanitarian Foundation has awarded a grant of 2 million Swiss
Francs to Cerus, the University Hospital of Basel, and the Swiss
Transfusion SRC to complete the necessary clinical studies to develop a
whole blood pathogen inactivation system for use in Africa.
While patients in developed countries receive platelet, plasma, or red
cell transfusions, in many African countries, whole blood transfusions
remain common, requiring the development of a robust whole blood
pathogen inactivation system optimized for use within the limited
infrastructure of local blood banks and hospitals.
Obstetric hemorrhage, sickle cell disease, and childhood anemia, are
among the many conditions in Africa requiring transfusion as a critical
life-saving intervention. The African blood supply is also challenged by
transfusion-transmitted diseases endemic to the region, including
malaria, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever. At the same time, local
blood donors have significant rates of well-known infectious agents such
as HIV, HTLV, and hepatitis, all of which can also be transmitted via
transfusion.
“Blood safety is a significant health concern in Africa, where a number
of endemic pathogens may be present in donated blood,” said Dr. Rudolf
Schwabe, chief executive officer of Swiss Transfusion SRC. “We have an
obligation to bring this technology to Africa and other regions where it
has the potential to vastly improve blood safety."
“The whole blood pathogen inactivation system we’ve developed is a
manual process that is easy to use in remote settings, without the need
for electricity. A product like this would have a tremendous impact on
human health in Africa,“ said William ‘Obi’ Greenman, Cerus’ president
and chief executive officer. “The studies funded by this grant, as well
as the ability to leverage synergies from the development of our red
cell system, will bring us one step closer to whole blood pathogen
inactivation for Africa, which will ensure blood safety and availability
for those patients who need it most.”
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 http://www.cerus.com
for information about Cerus.
INTERCEPT and INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus Corporation.
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Source: Cerus Corporation