Cerus and SunCoast Blood Bank Enter Into Agreement for the Use of INTERCEPT Platelets and Plasma

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) and the SunCoast Blood Bank (SCBB) announced today that they have signed a three-year purchase agreement for the INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma. SCBB collects over 45,000 units of blood products, including 6,000 units of platelets and over 5,500 plasma units per year, to support 12 hospitals.

“The choice for us to partner with Cerus was easy. If there is a product on the market that dramatically reduces the transmission of pathogens and parasites, then we owe it to our patients and our community to provide it,” said Scott Bush, chief executive officer of SCBB. “We are very excited to become the first blood center in Florida to offer INTERCEPT-treated components, to mitigate transfusion related incidents. SunCoast Blood Bank has a commitment to serving our community through forward thinking and innovative technologies supporting our primary mission, squarely focusing on the health and welfare of our patients.”

“We are proud to be working with a progressive blood center such as SunCoast, to positively impact patient lives through the implementation of INTERCEPT pathogen reduction technology,” commented William 'Obi' Greenman, Cerus’ president and chief executive officer. “In addition to reduced transfusion transmission risk, we believe INTERCEPT will offer the added benefit of early platelet release, thereby increasing platelet units’ effective shelf life, and providing SunCoast the flexibility to offer its hospitals fresher platelets for improved patient outcomes.”

ABOUT SUNCOAST BLOOD BANK

SunCoast Blood Bank (SCBB) is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, providing a reliable supply of safe blood products and transfusion services to Southwest Florida for 66 years. SCBB offers a variety of blood products and specialized services such as bedside Therapuetic Apheresis, transfusion testing, and patient blood management for Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System, Manatee Memorial Hospital, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, Complex Care Hospital at Ridgelake, HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Sarasota, Surgery Center at St. Andrews Venice, North Port Emergency Room, Fawcett Memorial Hospital of Port Charlotte, Englewood Community Hospital, DeSoto Memorial Hospital and Bayflite 2 Emergency Helicopter Transport. SCBB is recognized as a distinguished provider with outstanding customer service and the ability to provide rare blood services onsite. For SCBB donor locations and more information, visit www.scbb.org or call 1-866-97-BLOOD.

ABOUT CERUS

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused in the field of blood safety. The INTERCEPT Blood System is designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections 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 of the INTERCEPT treatment is designed to inactivate established transfusion threats, such as hepatitis B and C, HIV, West Nile virus and bacteria, as well as emerging pathogens such as Chikungunya, malaria and dengue. Cerus currently markets and sells the INTERCEPT Blood System for both platelets and plasma in the United States, 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 http://www.cerus.com for information about Cerus.

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 regarding the expected impact of implementing the INTERCEPT Blood System at the SunCoast Blood Bank. 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, risks associated with the implementation and use of the INTERCEPT Blood System and other risks detailed in Cerus' filings with the SEC, including exhibit 99.1 of Cerus' current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 5, 2015. 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.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150205005318/en/