Ilex, Cerus partner to distribute INTERCEPT Blood System in Israel and South Africa

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) today announced today that it has entered into agreements with Ilex Biotech Limited to distribute Cerus' INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma in South Africa and Israel. The INTERCEPT Blood System is designed to provide increased protection from a broad range of transfusion-transmitted pathogens, including bacteria and emerging pathogens such as the dengue and chikungunya viruses.

Under the terms of the agreements, Ilex will promote the sales, deployment and support of the INTERCEPT platelet system in South Africa and Israel. Approximately 75,000 platelet units and 175,000 plasma units are collected annually in these markets.

"I am impressed with Ilex's demonstrated success in bringing state-of-the-art blood safety technologies to South Africa, where the high rate of HIV-positive donations creates an exceptional challenge to transfusion safety," said William "Obi" Greenman, president and chief executive officer of Cerus Corporation. "We look forward to working with Ilex to bring INTERCEPT pathogen inactivation to both South Africa and Israel."