Porex and CERUS Saving Lives with Pathogen Inactivation

THE CHALLENGE

CERUS needed a reliable partner committed to quality as part of their supply chain.

CERUS Corporation is a biomedical products company specializing in the field of blood transfusion safety. CERUS provides products that make blood safer with a goal to become the worldwide standard of care. The company developed a solution for inactivating pathogens to maximize the availability of safe blood and reduce waste of precious inventory.

To effectively inactivate pathogens in blood, a level of technological acumen is required that many companies could not meet. CERUS needed the product to meet the quality and quantity demands for its expanding global market. CERUS searched for a partner that specialized in reliable high-level technology while maintaining the integrity of the INTERCEPT™ system.

THE SOLUTION

CERUS partnered with POREX to supply components for the inactivation of pathogens in platelets and plasma.

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 including Hepatitis B and C, HIV, West Nile virus and bacteria, as well as emerging pathogens such as Chikungunya, Malaria and Dengue.

Patients around the world rely on INTERCEPT™ Blood System. POREX consistently delivers the quantities with the quality and time-frame required.

THE RESULTS

CERUS partnered with POREX to develop a technology that would be compatible with its system. The two organizations share a passion and commitment to making blood safer.

At POREX, we form partnerships with our customers so we can fully understand their challenges and requirements. We develop innovative porous solutions that help make new products or take existing products and create ways for them to perform more effectively. We do this by providing functional porous components that can wick, vent, filter, diffuse, absorb and apply.

Because we develop our manufacturing equipment and tooling processes, we have superior control of the quality standards and products we produce. When the CERUS team contacted us with a challenge our engineers were confident in their ability to help.

The Porex technology has been an integral part of the INTERCEPT™ System since it was launched. To date, approximately 5 million transfusable doses have been produced. The INTERCEPT™ technology reduces the risk for patients from having septic transfusion reactions and infectious disease complications. The product has a positive impact on thousands of patients each day and has demonstrated that it saves lives. CERUS currently markets and sells the INTERCEPT™ Blood System for 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.