Cerus Corporation (CERS)

[mogman]

Excerpts from

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/trf.13993/full
See full text for abbreviations and context.

Given their rapid emergence and lack of predictability,
emerging pathogens challenge the current testing paradigm...

An alternate way to manage the continuous threat of
emerging infectious agents is the use of PI technologies
to proactively protect the blood supply and mitigate the
risk of TTIDs. PI = Pathogen Inactivation

The findings of this study are of particular importance
after the US FDA recommended in August 2016 to
1) test all donations collected with a licensed or investigational
individual donor NAT for ZIKV under an investigational
new drug application, 2) to implement pathogen reduction
technology for PLTs and plasma using FDA-approved
devices, or 3) to implement pathogen reduction technology
for whole blood or RBCs if an FDA-approved or
investigational device becomes available.

The amotosalen/UVA systems for plasma and PLTs were
approved by FDA in 2014 and were commercially available
when ZIKV emerged in the Americas and the INTERCEPT
Blood System for PLTs was implemented at the time of the
ZIKV crisis in Puerto Rico in February 2016 to safeguard
and maintain the availability of the blood supply on the island.[60]

The results of this study complement previous results[65]
and show that ZIKV can be inactivated in all blood components
(Table 3) using amotosalen/UVA for PLTs and plasma[41]
and S-303 and GSH for RBCs. The availability of broad spectrum
PI technologies for all blood components enables a new paradigm
for blood safety that can be used to maintain the ongoing
availability and safety of blood products in time of epidemics
with newly emerged and potentially susceptible pathogens.

A great reason to buy while the price is at the $4 mark.... but not for long!!