Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) announced today that it has renewed its contract with the Transfusion Service of the Swiss Red Cross (Blutspende SRK Schweiz) by entering into a five-year purchase agreement for the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets.

"We are delighted to support the Swiss Red Cross in its utilization of pathogen inactivation with INTERCEPT to secure the safety of platelet components across the country," said Caspar Hogeboom, president of Cerus Europe. "We are proud to continue this strong partnership with the Swiss Red Cross in its critical mission."

The new five-year agreement follows the initial three-year purchase agreement between Cerus and the Swiss Red Cross, signed in 2010. In addition to the five-year base term in the new agreement, the agreement also allows for automatic extensions in additional two-year increments for purchase of the INTERCEPT Blood System.

"Since our initial deployment of the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets in 2011, and after transfusion of approximately 100,000 INTERCEPT-treated platelet therapeutic doses, Swiss haemovigilance data have demonstrated a favourable safety profile compared to conventional platelets," said Dr. Behrouz Mansouri, chief medical officer of the Transfusion Service of the Swiss Red Cross. "These improvements in transfusion safety are important benefits for all patients receiving platelet transfusions across Switzerland."

Following up on national haemovigilance data presented by the Swiss Red Cross and Swissmedic earlier this year at the 15th International Haemovigilance Seminar, Swissmedic recently released its Haemovigilance Annual Report 2012, including a description of the country's cumulative experience with INTERCEPT-treated platelet components since the 2011 introduction. These data showed a reduction in the number and severity of non-infection-related transfusion reactions after transfusion of INTERCEPT-treated platelets (2011-2012) compared to conventional platelet components (2009-2011). In addition, no cases of platelet component transfusion-transmitted bacterial or viral infection were reported in 2012. With the introduction of the INTERCEPT technology, the use of whole blood derived platelets shifted from 14% in 2010 to 34% in 2012, improving the utilization of donated blood. In addition, the overall demand for blood components did not increase with exclusive utilization of INTERCEPT-treated platelet components.

"The Swiss Red Cross is committed to the safety of our blood supply," said Dr. Rudolf Schwabe, chief executive officer of the Transfusion Service of the Swiss Red Cross. "Following the decision of the Transfusion Service of the Swiss Red Cross and Swissmedic to implement pathogen inactivation of platelets, we introduced the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets into routine use, and we are extremely pleased to continue our use of this system into the future."

The Swissmedic Haemovigilance Annual Report 2012 (Autumn 2013) is available for download on the Swissmedic website at http://www.swissmedic.ch/marktueberwachung/00159/00160/00437/index.html?lang=en.

ABOUT CERUS

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused in the field of blood safety. The company's INTERCEPT Blood System has been demonstrated to inactivate a broad range of viruses, bacteria and parasites that may be present in donated blood, including established threats such as hepatitis B and C, HIV, West Nile virus and bacteria, as well as 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. 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.

Cerus Corporation
Lainie Corten, 925-288-6319
Sr Director, Global Marketing & Investor Relations