Cerus Appoints Andrew Gomperts as Chief Business Officer

Published on Monday, 09 January 2012 08:46 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

CONCORD, Calif.-( Business Wire )-

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) announced today that Andrew Gomperts has joined the company as chief business officer and vice president, business development and marketing. Mr. Gomperts will be responsible for establishing strategic alliances to accelerate global sales growth and development progress for the INTERCEPT Blood System, as well as securing new business opportunities for the company.

Mr. Gomperts comes to Cerus with extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, having most recently served as head of corporate and business development at Sangart. Prior to Sangart, he was a director in the venture operations group at Idealab, a venture capital holding company. Mr. Gomperts was also previously in senior management with Prometheus Laboratories, a specialty pharmaceutical company, where he was responsible for mergers and acquisitions, corporate partnering, licensing and strategic planning. Prior to Prometheus, he spent five years with McKinsey & Company. Mr. Gomperts received Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry and Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, a JD from Stanford Law School and an MBA from the Wharton School.

“Andrew joins us at an exciting time for Cerus as INTERCEPT platelets and plasma sales continue to demonstrate strong growth and as we prepare to enter Phase III for red cells in Europe,“ said William ‘Obi’ Greenman, president and chief executive officer. "We expect his contributions to be instrumental in our pursuit of new markets in Asia, North America, and around the globe."

ABOUT CERUS

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused on commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. The INTERCEPT system is designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted diseases 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 enables INTERCEPT treatment to inactivate established transfusion threats, such as hepatitis B and C, HIV, West Nile virus and bacteria, and is designed to inactivate emerging pathogens such as influenza, malaria and dengue. Cerus currently markets and sells the INTERCEPT Blood System for both platelets and plasma in Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East and selected countries in other regions around the world. The INTERCEPT red blood cell system is in clinical development. See http://www.cerus.com for more information.

INTERCEPT and INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus Corporation.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements relating to potential growth in INTERCEPT platelet and plasma sales, the potential initiation of a Phase III trial for INTERCEPT red blood cells in Europe, and potential new market opportunities. These forward-looking statements are based upon Cerus’ current expectations. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including, without limitation, risks associated with the commercialization and market acceptance of, and customer demand for, the INTERCEPT Blood System, risks respecting the uncertain and time-consuming clinical development and regulatory process, including the risk that clinical trials for INTERCEPT red blood cells may not be initiated in a timely manner, or at all, as well as risks relating to the outcome of red blood cell clinical trials and adverse decisions or actions by regulatory agencies, risks relating to the sufficiency of Cerus’ cash resources to conduct and complete clinical trials for INTERCEPT red blood cells, and other risks detailed in the Cerus' filings with, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including in Cerus' quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, filed with the SEC on November 3, 2011. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Cerus does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, changed assumptions or otherwise.

Cerus CorporationLainie Corten, 925-288-6319Director, Global Communications & Marketing