Cerus Corporation Announces Positive Topline Results for the Phase 3 Clinical Trial of the INTERCEPT Blood System for Red Blood Cells in Cardiovascular Surgery Patients

Cerus Corporation (Nasdaq: CERS) today announced positive topline results for ReCePI, a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of pathogen reduced INTERCEPT Red Blood Cells (INTERCEPT RBCs) transfused to complex cardiac surgery patients. The trial met its primary efficacy endpoint, demonstrating non-inferiority for INTERCEPT RBCs compared to conventional RBCs as measured by the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) following transfusion of study RBCs. AKI is a sensitive transfusion efficacy indicator of RBC tissue oxygen delivery. In transfused subjects, by modified intent to treat (mITT pre-specified primary endpoint population) the incidence of AKI was 29.3% (46/157) for INTERCEPT RBC recipients compared to 28.0% (45/161) for conventional RBC recipients, demonstrating non-inferiority of INTERCEPT RBCs compared to conventional RBCs with an upper limit of the 95% confidence interval of 10.4% compared with a non-inferiority margin of 14.0% (p = 0.001).

The safety endpoint of the proportion of patients with any related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) within 28 days of last transfusion was not significantly different for INTERCEPT RBCs (2.5%) compared to conventional RBCs (0.6%) (p = 0.130). There was no clinical significance related to treatment-emergent RBC antibodies observed in five patients receiving INTERCEPT RBCs. The trial’s independent Data Safety and Monitoring Board (DSMB) evaluated these patients and was supportive of continued transfusion, having found no adverse health effects from trial transfusions. This safety endpoint is also being explored in the Company’s ongoing RedeS Phase 3 clinical trial of INTERCEPT RBCs. Cerus plans to include data from both the ReCePI and RedeS clinical trials in an integrated safety analysis as part of its planned modular premarket approval (PMA) submission.

“We are extremely pleased by the positive topline results of the ReCePI clinical trial,” stated Richard Benjamin, M.D., Ph.D., Cerus’ chief medical officer and principal investigator for the ReCePI clinical trial. “The ReCePI clinical trial is a pioneering trial in the field of transfusion medicine, providing critical information about pathogen reduced INTERCEPT RBCs compared to conventional RBCs. We continue to look forward to completing the RedeS clinical trial, Cerus’ ongoing pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for INTERCEPT RBCs enrolling a broader patient population requiring RBC transfusion for acute and chronic anemia.”