Cerus and CEI donate INTERCEPT™ System Kits to HEMORIO for preparedness of the 2016 Olympics

Cerus Corporation and its distribution partner Comércio Exportação e Importação de Materiais Médicos (CEI) announced a donation of INTERCEPT Blood System pathogen inactivation kits for platelets and plasma to HEMORIO, a public hospital responsible for transfusion medicine and hematology care for the state of Rio de Janeiro and part of the State Health Department and coordinator of the State Blood Network.  HEMORIO is also the designated emergency preparedness blood center in Rio de Janeiro for the Summer Olympic Games.

The donation is aimed at protecting HEMORIO’s platelet and plasma transfusion needs for emergency preparedness during the Olympic Games, as well as for patients in Rio receiving platelet and plasma transfusions through the remainder of 2016.  HEMORIO anticipates that this will give sufficient time for the facility to obtain the appropriate funding in order to implement INTERCEPT pathogen-reduction technology commercially for future use.

“We thank Cerus for this donation, which allows us to get up and running with INTERCEPT more quickly.  Not only will it provide us with an added layer of safety to protect patients from pathogens such as Zika, dengue, and chikungunya that may be present in donor blood, we also believe that in the long-term, this system will provide a cost savings to HEMORIO.” – Dr. Luiz Amorim, Technical Director of HEMORIO.