Health & Fitness
Health and Fitness
Health and Fitness
Fri, September 24, 2010
Thu, September 23, 2010
Cerus Awarded $1.4 Million to Advance Development of Pathogen Inactivation for Red Blood Cells
CONCORD, Calif.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) announced today that it has received an additional $1.4 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to support advanced development of the companya™s pathogen inactivation technology for red blood cells. The INTERCEPT red blood cell system is a pathogen inactivation product Cerus is developing to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases through red blood cell transfusions.
"The U.S. Department of Defense continues to be a strong supporter of pathogen inactivation"
"The U.S. Department of Defense continues to be a strong supporter of pathogen inactivation," said Dr. Laurence Corash, Cerusa™ chief medical officer. aThis award will allow Cerus to support advanced development of the INTERCEPT Blood System for red blood cells.a
The award, granted by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, covers program-related costs incurred between September 2010 and September 2011. The award has been granted to Cerus with the ultimate goal of successful development of the INTERCEPT Blood System for red blood cells, which could potentially provide the U.S. military personnel with prospective protection against transfusion-transmitted diseases. To date, Cerus has received more than $30 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense to improve blood safety for the U.S. military.
ABOUT CERUS
Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. The INTERCEPT system is designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted diseases 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 allows INTERCEPT treatment to inactivate both established transfusion threats, such as hepatitis, 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, Russia, the Middle East and selected countries in other regions around the world, with over 600,000 units transfused to date. The INTERCEPT red blood cell system is in clinical development. Visit [ http://www.cerus.com ] for more information.
INTERCEPT and 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 the potential for the INTERCEPT Blood System for red blood cells to provide U.S. military personnel protection against transfusion-transmitted diseases. Words such as apotentiala and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.These forward-looking statements are based upon the companya™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 commercial adoption and market acceptance of the INTERCEPT Blood System, the uncertainty of future clinical trial results, 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-Q for the quarter and year ended June 30, 2010. No pathogen inactivation system has been shown to inactivate all pathogens.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.
