Promising Zika Research Fuels Cerus Stock Surge

Shares of Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) were trading up 4.2 percent Thursday as news of research that successfully inactivated the Zika virus in human blood circulated among traders.

BTIG analysts Karen Koski, Dr. Sean Lavin and Andrea Alfonso reiterated their "buy" rating for Cerus and set a price target of $8. Cerus shares sat at $5.38 Thursday afternoon, up 3.6 percent from open.

Regulatory obstacles lie between Cerus and the opportunity for its Intercept technology to become the standard of care for Zika treatment, the analysts noted. "For example, the ability to reduce or eliminate Zika is not listed on Intercept's FDA label, which prevents the company from making a Zika reduction claim to blood centers and/or hospitals," Koski, La vin and Alfonso wrote.

Related Link: Stocks To Play In A Zika Virus Pandemic

Research published in the journal Transfusion demonstrated that Intercept, a combination of pathogen-neutralizing compounds and UV light treatment can "inactivate" Zika virus in plasma. The research was funded by Cerus.

Researchers Maite Aubry, Vaea Richard, Jennifer Green, Julien Broult, and Didier Musso used a technique that has been used to treat other viruses in the flaviviridae family, like dengue fever and West Nile virus. The technique involves introducing a compound used to fight T-cell lymphoma into a plasma sample and exposing the sample to ultraviolet light.

However, the study doesn't actually involve a vaccine or human trials; the researchers blasted frozen plasma samples with UV light.

Benzinga has reached out to a variety of virology experts and Cerus for comment and had not received responses at press time. The National Institute Of Health declined to comment.