4 December 2020 - - The oral presentation of a clinical study: "Efficacy of COVID-19 Pathogen Inactivated Convalescent Plasma for Patients with Moderate to Severe Acute COVID-19: A Case Matched Control Study," presented by Dr. Nina Khanna of the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland, at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting, on December 5, US-based Cerus Corp. (NASDAQ: CERS) said.

This presentation reviews data on the efficacy of Intercept -treated COVID-19 convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 pneumonia patients.

Initiated in March 2020, the study was conducted in collaboration with Cerus and Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco; Vaccine Research and Development Laboratory, University of California, Irvine, CA; and Enable Biosciences, San Francisco, CA.

The study of hospitalized patients with documented COVID-19 pneumonia enrolled 15 subjects who received INTERCEPT-treated CCP and 30 matched controls who received standard therapy without CCP transfusion.

Of the 15 patients treated with INTERCEPT-treated CCP, 14 (93.3%) responded and were alive at study day 28. Three patients were severely immune-compromised. Among the 30 matched control patients, 6 died by study day 28.

The University Hospital of Basel is a specialized medical research and patient care facility. The Regional Swiss Red Cross Blood Transfusion Center, located in the University Hospital, conducts research studies in transfusion medicine.

Headquartered in Concord, California, Cerus develops and supplies technologies and pathogen-protected blood components to blood centers, hospitals, and ultimately patients who rely on safe blood.

The Intercept Blood System for platelets and plasma is available globally and remains the only pathogen reduction system with both CE mark and FDA approval for these two blood components.

The Intercept red blood cell system is under regulatory review in Europe, and in late-stage clinical development in the US.

Also in the US, the Intercept Blood System for Cryoprecipitation is approved for production of Pathogen Reduced Cryoprecipitated Fibrinogen Complex, a therapeutic product for the treatment and control of bleeding associated with fibrinogen deficiency, including massive hemorrhage.