Cerus Corporation has announced the receipt of a $5 million cash milestone payment from BioOne Corporation. The milestone payment was prompted by Cerus' recent receipt of CE mark regulatory approval for the Intercept Blood System for plasma in Europe.

In addition to the cash payment, Cerus expects to receive an additional milestone payment of BioOne preferred stock worth $5 million in early 2007 pursuant to the terms of its agreement with BioOne. Upon receipt of the cash milestone payment, Cerus forwarded $0.5 million to Baxter Healthcare Corporation in accordance with an agreement relating to the BioOne commercialisation rights.

BioOne has commercialisation rights for the Intercept Blood System for platelets and plasma in parts of Asia. The agreements between Cerus and BioOne provide for milestone payments to Cerus, as well as royalties based upon sales of the Intercept Blood System for platelets and plasma.

Cerus Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercialises novel, proprietary products in the fields of blood safety and immunotherapy to provide safer, more effective medical options to patients in areas of substantial unmet medical needs.