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French Hemovigilance Report Highlights Safety and Effectiveness of INTERCEPT Platelets During First Full Year of 100% Production and Routine Use
CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cerus Corporation (Nasdaq:CERS) is pleased to announce the recent publication of the 16th Annual Hemovigilance report by
About this update from Cerus Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":" CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nCerus Corporation (Nasdaq:CERS) is pleased to announce the recent publication of the 16th Annual Hemovigilance report by the French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) which oversees the safety of medicine and other health products. The report highlights the safety and effectiveness of INTERCEPT platelets during the first full year of routine use.\n\n\n“The new hemovigilance data published by ANSM underscores the clinical utility and the safety benefits conferred by the use of the INTERCEPT Blood Systems for platelets,” said William ‘Obi’ Greenman, Cerus’ president and chief executive officer. “We are proud that every single patient receiving a platelet transfusion in France today is benefitting from our pathogen-reduction technology.”\n\n\nKey highlights from the report include:\n\n\n\n320,613 units of platelets were transfused in France and its territories during 2018, of which 320,235 (99.9%) were INTERCEPT treated\n\n\nZero cases of bacterial infections by platelet transfusion in 2018 compared to 15 cases in the prior 5 years (2013-2017)\n\n\nZero cases of arbovirus (Zika/Chikungunya/Dengue) transmissions by platelet transfusion\n\n\nA discrete, but not statistically significant reduction in both allergic transfusion reactions and overall platelet transfusion refractoriness with INTERCEPT platelets\n\n\nThe use of pathogen reduction replaced gamma irradiation of platelets and CMV testing\n\n\n\n“The French Hemovigilance system is the most robust surveillance system for transfusion safety in the world and it is encouraging to observe that the INTERCEPT system provided the expected safeguard to the French platelet supply during its first full year in routine use at 100%,” said Dr. Richard Benjamin, Cerus’ chief medical officer. “We believe this large new data set documenting the French experience will provide further confidence to U.S. blood centers and hospitals as they anticipate increasing use of INTERCEPT in order to comply with the FDA’s Guidance Document on platelet bacterial safety.”\n\n\nThe French national hemovigilance system was created by law in 1993 to detect and reduce the risk of adverse events related to blood transfusions. The national system is a collaboration between ANSM, the Regional Hemovigilance and Blood Safety Coordinators, the French National B...