Cerus and OneBlood Enter into Agreement for the Use of INTERCEPT Platelets and Plasma

CONCORD, Calif. & ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) announced today that OneBlood, Inc. has signed a multi-year purchase agreement for the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma. The INTERCEPT System reduces the risk of transfusion-transmitted infection in platelet and plasma components by inactivating a broad spectrum of viruses, gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, spirochetes, parasites and leukocytes.

“Safety of the blood supply is OneBlood’s top priority,” said Don Doddridge, President and Chief Executive Officer of OneBlood. “The INTERCEPT pathogen reduction system provides an additional layer of safety to our existing testing processes and enables us to deploy cutting-edge pathogen reduction technology to further ensure safe blood for our hospital partners and their patients,” said Doddridge.

OneBlood distributes approximately one million blood products to more than 200 hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout most of Florida, parts of Southern Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.

“In a time when new and emerging pathogens such as chikungunya and dengue fever are starting to appear in the United States, the INTERCEPT system enables OneBlood to take a proactive approach in supplying their hospitals with pathogen-reduced platelets and plasma,” said William "Obi" Greenman, Cerus’ President and Chief Executive Officer.

ABOUT THE INTERCEPT BLOOD SYSTEM FOR PLATELETS AND PLASMA

The INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma is comprised of single-use platelet and plasma processing sets and an ultraviolet (UVA) illumination device for the ex vivo preparation and storage of pathogen-reduced whole blood-derived or apheresis plasma and apheresis platelet components. Recognized as a safe, effective, and reliable choice of European blood centers for over a decade, Cerus’ INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma received FDA approval in December 2014.

The safety and efficacy of INTERCEPT processed platelets has been evaluated in 10 controlled clinical studies, with over 800 study subjects. Routine use of INTERCEPT processed platelets has been monitored in over 4000 patients in an active hemovigilance studies conducted by Cerus in Europe, and additionally through national hemovigilance reporting systems in France (since 2009) and Switzerland (since 2010). The safety and efficacy of plasma prepared with the INTERCEPT Blood System has been evaluated in six clinical studies including a total of over 500 patients. Routine use of INTERCEPT plasma has been monitored in over 50,000 INTERCEPT plasma components transfused to almost 10,000 patients in an active hemovigilance study conducted by Cerus in Europe, and additionally in over 150,000 INTERCEPT plasma components through France's national hemovigilance reporting system in 2009 through 2011. For U.S. product information, see http://www.intercept-usa.com.

ABOUT ONEBLOOD

OneBlood is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) community asset responsible for providing safe, available and affordable blood to more than 200 hospital partners and their patients throughout most of Florida, parts of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. OneBlood distributes nearly one million blood products annually, operates more than 80 donor centers and deploys nearly 200 of their signature Big Red Buses throughout their service area for blood drives. To learn more about OneBlood please visit www.oneblood.org.

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 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/20151105005879/en/

Cerus Investor Relations Contacts:
Stacey Leanos, 925-288- 6137
Associate Director, Investor & Public Relations
or
Lainie Corten, 925-288-6137
Vice President, Global Marketing & Investor Relations
or
Cerus Media Contact:
ARC2 Communications & Media, Inc.
Dan Boyle, 818-209-1692
or
OneBlood, Inc.
Susan Forbes, 407-248-5488
Vice President of Marketing & Communications

Source: Cerus Corporation

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