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.
