Cerus Announces Inducement Grants Under NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)

CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) announced today that it has granted stock options and restricted stock units to Vivek K. Jayaraman, Cerus’ newly appointed chief commercial officer. These awards were granted pursuant to the Cerus Corporation Inducement Plan, approved by the Compensation Committee of Cerus’ Board of Directors and granted as an inducement material to Mr. Jayaraman’s employment with Cerus, in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

Cerus granted Mr. Jayaraman an option to purchase 250,000 shares of Cerus’ common stock with an exercise price of $6.36 per share, the closing price of Cerus’ common stock on September 1, 2016, the date of grant. In addition, Cerus granted to Mr. Jayaraman an award in the form of 75,000 restricted stock units. The shares subject to the option will vest over a four-year term, with one-eighth of the shares subject to the option vesting after six months and the remaining shares vesting in equal monthly increments, and the restricted stock units will vest in equal annual installments over four years, in each case subject to Mr. Jayaraman’s continuous service to Cerus on each vesting date.

Cerus is providing this information in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

ABOUT CERUS

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused in the field of blood transfusion safety. 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, such as Hepatitis B and C, HIV, West Nile Virus and bacteria, as well as emerging pathogens such as chikungunya, malaria and dengue. Cerus currently markets and sells the INTERCEPT Blood System for both 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. The INTERCEPT red blood cell system is in clinical development. See www.cerus.com for more information about Cerus.

INTERCEPT and INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus Corporation.