CONCORD, Calif., Apr 17, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- In conjunction with Cerus Corporation's (Nasdaq:CERS) report of its first quarter financial results, a live webcast will be made of its conference call hosted by Claes Glassell, President and CEO, William J. Dawson, Vice President, Finance and CFO, and David N. Cook, Vice President, Research and Development.

What:    Financial results, with an update on progress and future
         outlook

When:    Tuesday, May 2, 2006 at 4:30 p.m. ET

Where:   http://www.cerus.com

Contact: Ruey-Li Hwang / Cerus Corporation, 925-288-6017

Cerus Corporation's first quarter release will be issued on Tuesday, May 2, 2006 at 4:00 p.m. EDT and will be made available at http://www.cerus.com. The company will archive the earnings release audio replay as well as the press release on the company's website.

The conference call is protected by copyright. It cannot be recorded or rebroadcast without Cerus' permission.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation is developing and commercializing novel, proprietary products and technologies within the fields of immunotherapy and blood safety that are intended to provide safer, more effective medical options to patients in areas of substantial unmet medical needs. In the field of immunotherapy, the company is employing its proprietary attenuated Listeria vaccine platform to develop a series of novel therapies to treat cancer, and it is applying its proprietary Killed But Metabolically Active technology platform in research and development of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for infectious diseases. In the field of blood safety, the company is developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System, which is based on the company's proprietary Helinx technology and is designed to enhance the safety of donated blood components by inactivating viruses, bacteria, parasites and other pathogens, as well as potentially harmful white blood cells.

INTERCEPT and INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus Corporation.

SOURCE: Cerus Corporation

Cerus Corporation
Ruey-Li Hwang, 925-288-6017