New five-year agreement maintains exclusive use of INTERCEPT platelets and expands use of INTERCEPT plasma
Image: Cerus signs five-year agreement with Swiss transfusion SRC. Photo: Courtesy of allinonemovie/Pixabay
Cerus Corporation announced that it has signed a new five-year commercial contract with Swiss Transfusion SRC, a company of the Swiss Red Cross, for purchase of the INTERCEPT Blood System. The new agreement includes both INTERCEPT platelet and plasma kits in addition to Illuminators and service contracts.
“Swiss Transfusion SRC is one of our longest standing clinical and commercial partners, with a track record of stringent safety requirements. We are honored that Swiss Transfusion SRC continues to entrust Cerus and the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance the safety and availability of its blood component supply,” said William ‘Obi’ Greenman, Cerus’ president and chief executive officer.
Since 2011, all platelet components in Switzerland have been treated with the INTERCEPT Blood System. Based on haemovigilance data published by Swissmedic, between 2011 and 2018, over 280,000 units of INTERCEPT treated platelets were transfused in Switzerland with no reported cases of transfusion-transmitted sepsis. Conversely, between 2005 and 2011, approximately 157,000 units of conventional platelets were transfused with 16 reported cases of septic transfusions resulting in three fatalities. Furthermore, at the University of Basel hospital during the same period, patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplant receiving INTERCEPT platelets demonstrated improved survival compared to those patients who had previously been transfused with conventional platelet products (Infanti et al. Transfusion 59 (11); 3350-61, 2019).
“Cerus has been, and continues to be, an important collaboration partner in helping enhance patient safety in Switzerland. The ability to extend platelet storage to seven days has also improved our ability to maintain availability of this sometimes scarce blood component,” said Dr. Bernhard Wegmüller, chief executive officer, Swiss Transfusion SRC. “In the future, we look forward to the expected CE mark approval for INTERCEPT red blood cells.”
In 2018, approximately 220,000 RBC doses, 39,000 units of platelets, and 30,500 units of fresh frozen plasma were transfused in Switzerland.
The Cerus partnership with Swiss Transfusion SRC to develop a whole blood pathogen inactivation system is also continuing in an effort to find a solution to improve the safety of transfusion practice in Africa. The program is expected to begin clinical studies in the Côte d’Ivoire in 2020. In many parts of the world with limited resources, there is not enough blood to save women’s lives with severe postpartum haemorrhage, to treat children with malaria infection‐induced severe anaemia, or to reduce the burden of sickle cell disease and other haemoglobinopathies.
Source: Company Press Release