Cerus Corporation Celebrates World Blood Donor Day
June 12 2020 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Pandemic related shortages highlight importance
of blood donations
Cerus Corporation (Nasdaq:CERS) celebrates World Blood Donor Day
this Sunday, June 14, 2020. Enacted by the World Health
Organization (WHO), World Blood Donor Day highlights the need for
safe blood and safe blood products, while recognizing donors for
their life-saving donations. This year’s “Safe blood saves lives”
campaign calls attention to the importance of committed, year-round
donations to maintain supply, even during a pandemic.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of blood drives have
been cancelled and blood donations are on the decline, resulting in
a decrease in our worldwide blood supply1. To avoid blood shortages
and ensure safe blood is available for all elected surgeries,
medical emergencies, those with life-threatening diseases, recent
COVID-19 patients, and others, blood donations are needed.
“At Cerus, we are proud to do our part to make the blood supply
safer and improve availability. The INTERCEPT Blood System reduces
the risk of transfusion transmitted infections from known and
emerging pathogens. In addition, the INTERCEPT treatment allows for
the earlier release of platelets to hospitals compared to
conventional bacterial culture testing and provides an alternative
to certain travel related donor deferrals,” said William 'Obi'
Greenman, president and chief executive officer of Cerus
Corporation.
According to the WHO, more than 117 million blood donations are
collected worldwide2. In the U.S., according to the National Blood
Collection and Utilization Survey more than 12 million units of
whole blood and apheresis red blood cells were collected in 2017.
In addition, an estimated 2.6 million units of platelets were
distributed along with 3.2 million units of plasma3.
“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many blood centers are
facing shortages of blood and blood components,” continued
Greenman. “We applaud and recognize donors that give blood during
these challenging times to help ensure that patients in need of
transfusions have access to safe, lifesaving blood components.”
Cerus Corporation will celebrate World Blood Donor Day with a
sponsored in-house blood drive and social media awareness campaign.
To be held at their global headquarters today, June 12, the Cerus
team will implement safety precautions and social distancing, while
bringing awareness to blood safety and blood donation.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-provides-updated-guidance-address-urgent-need-blood-during-pandemic
- World Health Organization.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blood-safety-and-availability
- Jones JM, Sapiano MRP, Savinkina AA, Haass KA, Baker ML, Henry
RA, Berger JJ, Basavaraju SV. Slowing decline in blood collection
and transfusion in the United States – 2017. Transfusion
2020;60:S1-9
(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/trf.15604)
ABOUT CERUS
Cerus Corporation is dedicated solely to safeguarding the
world’s blood supply and aims to become the preeminent global blood
products company. Based in Concord, California, our employees are
dedicated to deploying and supplying vital technologies and
pathogen-protected blood components for blood centers, hospitals
and ultimately patients who rely on safe blood. With the INTERCEPT
Blood System, we are focused on protecting patients by delivering
the full complement of reliable products and expertise for
transfusion medicine. Cerus develops and markets the INTERCEPT
Blood System and remains the only company in the blood transfusion
space to earn both CE Mark and FDA approval for pathogen reduction
of both platelet and plasma components. Cerus currently markets and
sells the INTERCEPT Blood System 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. For more information
about Cerus, visit www.cerus.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
INTERCEPT and the INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus
Corporation.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200612005087/en/
Tim Lee – Investor Relations Director Cerus Corporation
925-288-6137
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