Cerus Announces Collaboration Agreement With Nipro for Innovative INTERCEPT Red Blood Cell System Component

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) announced today that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with the Nipro Corporation’s pharmaceutical division to develop technology to support commercial implementation of the INTERCEPT System for Red Blood Cells (RBCs). Under the agreement, the companies will leverage Nipro’s proprietary technology to develop a set that enables the mixing and delivery of key chemical compounds to the red cell component, a process which is integral to the pathogen inactivation technology for RBCs.

“The intent is to have a disposable kit for red cells that is very easy to use and operationally efficient in both large and small blood centers. With a simple manual squeeze of a connected double bag, active components in the kit are reconstituted in a solution to begin the inactivation process,” said Nina Mufti, Cerus’ vice president of development. “We are excited about our partnership with Nipro, a company known for its innovation, and believe that this collaboration sets the stage for a broader arrangement for the large-scale production of this key component of the INTERCEPT red cell disposable set.”

Nipro Corporation’s pharmaceutical business specializes in producing innovative kit products that maximimize operational ease-of-use, including prefilled syringes and liquid/powder double-bag kits. Nipro Group (Nipro Corporation and its affiliate companies) has one of the largest contract manufacturing operations in Japan, and manufactures drug products for more than 70 companies in Japan and abroad.

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 results of the current collaboration, and potential future collaborations, between Nipro and Cerus. 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, risk that Cerus will be successful in advancing, capitalizing and monetizing red blood cell system; that Cerus can raise sufficient capital to support its product development and commercialization efforts; that product development efforts and clinical studies can be performed in an efficient and effective manner; and risks associated with dependence on third-party collaborators to support development activities as well as other risks detailed in the Cerus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including in Cerus' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, filed with the SEC on March 7, 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.

Contacts:

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

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