Cerus Announces First INTERCEPT Blood System Customer in Turkey
Cerus CorporationLainie Corten, 925-288-6319Sr Director, Global Marketing & Investor Relations
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) announced today that Hemakim, Cerus’ distributor for Turkey, has signed an agreement with the Florence Nightingale Hospital, a leading medical center in Turkey, to supply the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma.
“With the adoption of the INTERCEPT Blood System, we know we are doing everything in our power to provide patients with safe and effective blood products, consistent with our mission to use innovative products to continuously improve patient care,” said Dr. Hulya Bilgen, associate professor and director of the Florence Nightingale Transfusion Center. “We strive to provide our patients and their families with the best the world can offer, with service from a qualified and experienced clinical staff.”
“We are extremely proud that the INTERCEPT system meets Florence Nightingale Hospital’s demanding standards for healthcare technologies, and we share the Hospital’s passion for patient safety,” said Caspar Hogeboom, president of Cerus Europe. “Including Turkey, customers in 18 countries have chosen the INTERCEPT Blood System to protect patients from transfusion-transmitted diseases.”
The Florence Nightingale Hospital Group, based in Istanbul, Turkey, offers patient-centered and specialized healthcare by integrating education, research and technology with clinical care. The group was founded in 1989, under the body of Turkish Cardiology Foundation, as the first cardiovascular disease hospital in the region. Today, with four general hospitals, a medical center, a teaching hospital, a clinical research center and a Hi-Tech hospital, the Florence Nightingale Hospital Group is one of the largest and most reputed hospitals in Europe and the Middle East.
Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. The INTERCEPT system is designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted diseases 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 enables INTERCEPT treatment to inactivate established transfusion threats, such as hepatitis B and C, HIV, West Nile virus and bacteria, and is designed to inactivate emerging pathogens such as influenza, malaria and dengue. 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. The INTERCEPT red blood cell system is in clinical development. See for more information.
INTERCEPT and the INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus Corporation.