Cerus Announces that Hemolife Fundación Banco Nacional de Sangre Has Entered into Routine Use of the INTERCEPT Blood System
October 10 2016 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
-- Hemolife becomes the first to offer
pathogen reduced platelets in Colombia --
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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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161010005123/en/
Cerus Corporation Contacts:Stacey Leanos - Associate Director,
Investor & Public RelationsLainie Corten - Vice President,
Global Marketing & Investor Relations(925)
288-6137ir@cerus.comorHemolife Contact:Oscar Andrés Peñuela,
Scientific DirectorOscar.penuela@hemolifeamerica.org
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