New Navy Policy Implements Full Adoption of Pathogen-Reduced Apheresis Platelets Collected at U.S. Navy Blood Donor Centers

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Cerus Corporation CERS announced today that the U.S. Department of the Navy will implement pathogen-reduction for all apheresis platelets collected at Navy Blood Donor Centers.

The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) noted that with the recent history with Zika Virus, Ebola, Chikungunya, Dengue, and Babesia, emerging pathogens continue to threaten the blood supply and that the use of pathogen reduction technologies will preemptively address the risk due to emerging pathogens.

All Navy Blood Donor Centers are required to implement the policy to pathogen-reduce platelet components by December 31, 2018.

"We are pleased that the U.S. Navy is expanding the use of pathogen-reduction technology to treat platelet components throughout its entire blood collection system," said William ‘Obi' Greenman, Cerus' president and chief executive officer. "By fully adopting pathogen reduction, the U.S Navy Blood Program is providing our Nation's Sailors, Marines, and their families around the globe access to platelets with reduced risk of transfusion transmitted infection (TTI) from known and emerging pathogens."

Cerus' INTERCEPT Blood Systems is currently the only FDA approved pathogen reduction system commercially available in the U.S. to treat platelets and is in routine use at the Navy Blood Donor Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

The U.S. Navy Blood Program operates seven FDA licensed blood collection centers around the globe to provide quality blood product services for service members, veterans, and their families. The U.S. Navy Blood Program is part of BUMED which manages health care activities for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

The BUMED instruction can be viewed at https://www.med.navy.mil/directives/ExternalDirectives/6530.16.pdf.

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 http://www.cerus.com for information about Cerus.

INTERCEPT and the INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus Corporation.

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Posted In: Press Releases
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