Cerus Corporation and subsidiaries of Baxter International Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement for Cerus to obtain Baxter's remaining commercial rights to the Intercept Blood System for platelets and plasma effective February 1, 2006.

Cerus now has exclusive rights to the Intercept Blood System for all three commonly transfused components: platelets, plasma and red blood cells, excluding rights in certain Asian countries for platelets and plasma.

"Cerus is now positioned to deliver on a new standard of blood safety with the Intercept Blood System. We strongly believe pathogen inactivation will have a significant impact on blood safety globally. We look forward to applying our expertise and focus to successfully commercialising the Intercept Blood System," said Claes Glassell, president and CEO of Cerus.

Under the agreement Baxter will provide technical service, clinical education and select regulatory activities in Europe during the transition. Baxter will continue manufacturing responsibilities in support of Cerus' development and commercialisation activities for the platelet system and plasma system through 2008.

Baxter will receive royalties based on future sales of Intercept Blood System for platelets and plasma. These royalty provisions replace the previous agreement where Cerus received a sharing of gross profit from Baxter sales.

This restructuring does not affect the relationship with the companies' Asian partner, BioOne Corporation. BioOne continues to maintain the commercial rights to market and distribute Intercept Blood System for platelets and plasma in Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore, following receipt of regulatory approval in each of those countries.

The Intercept Blood System is designed to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted diseases by inactivating certain pathogens that may be present in donated blood components.

The Intercept Blood System is approved for use in Europe for platelets, and has been implemented by blood centers in several European countries. A CE mark application has been filed for the Intercept Blood System for plasma and three phase III trials in the United States have been completed. phase III trials of the Intercept Blood System for red blood cells were halted in 2003 after antibody reactivity was observed in two patients. Based on the development of a modified process that may diminish the likelihood of antibody reactivity with treated red cells, re-entry into clinical trials is planned.

Cerus Corporation develops novel products for cancer, infectious disease and blood safety based on multiple, innovative technology platforms.