[September 11, 2014]

Cerus and Biomedica Foscama Group S.p.A. Enter Distribution Agreement for the INTERCEPT Blood System in Italy

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Biomedica Foscama Group S.p.A (BFG) to distribute the INTERCEPT Blood System for plasma and platelets in Italy, with a goal of expanding the adoption of pathogen inactivation to improve blood safety. More than 200,000 platelet and over 400,000 plasma units are produced annually by Italian blood centers for transfusion.

Under the agreement, BFG will be the exclusive distributor for the INTERCEPT Blood System in Italy, Vatican City and San Marino. BFG's responsibilities include the promotion, sale, deployment and support of INTERCEPT.

"The Biomedica Foscama Group offers extensive experience within the medical and pharmaceutical space, coupled with established relationships in Italian hospitals," said Caspar Hogeboom, president of Cerus Europe and EEMEA. "As such, we believe that Biomedica is well positioned to support Cerus in Italy. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration."

"Cerus' INTERCEPT Blood System complements our portfolio and fits our mission to provide patients with safe, effective medical products that improve their quality of life," added Alessandra Baldassari, chief executive officer of the Biomedica Foscama Group.

In addition to the distribution agreement, BFG has collaborated with Cerus for the past nine years through its manufacture and supply of a key component for Cerus' INTERCEPT System for red blood cells.

ABOUT BIOMEDICA FOSCAMA GROUP S.p.A.

Established in Italy since 1947, the Biomedica Foscama Group specializes in theproduction, distribution and promotion of medical devices, nutritional supplements, as well as therapeutic drugs used in oncology, neuropathy, and internal medicine in Italy and abroad. Biomedica also offers healthcare providers pharmacovigilance services in which drug safety activities are monitored and evaluated to help ensure efficacy and favorable risk/benefit profiles for their products. Biomedica prides itself on adhereing to a high code of ethics and compliance standards while providing products that improve patients' quality of life. See http://www.biomedicafoscama.com for more information.

ABOUT CERUS

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused in the field of blood safety. Cerus currently markets and sells the INTERCEPT Blood System for both platelets and plasma in Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East and selected countries in other regions around the world. In the United States, Cerus is seeking regulatory approval of the INTERCEPT Blood System for plasma and platelets. The INTERCEPT red blood cell system is in clinical development.

See http://www.cerus.com for more information.

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

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements relating to the anticipated support and expected sales growth resulting from the appointment of BFG as Cerus' exclusive distributor in Italy. These forward-looking statements are based upon Cerus' current expectations. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including, without limitation, risks associated with the commercialization and market acceptance of, and customer demand for, the INTERCEPT Blood System; adverse market and economic conditions; and other risks detailed in the Cerus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC (News - Alert)), including in Cerus' annual report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2014, filed with the SEC on August 8, 2014. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Cerus does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, changed assumptions or otherwise.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]