Pacific Edge signs Cxbladder agreement with MultiPlan

Pacific Edge announced today that it has entered into a contractual agreement with MultiPlan, Inc. for diagnostics laboratory testing. The agreement includes Pacific Edgeäó»s participation in the MultiPlan, PHCS and PHCS Savility Networks. 

The agreement is the fourth signed with national provider networks by Pacific Edge since October 2013 and is another step in the Company's commercial roll-out of Cxbladder in the United States, the world's largest healthcare market. The agreement with MultiPlan in addition to the agreements with FedMed, Americas Choice Provider Network, and Stratose makes Cxbladder available to a significant proportion of US residents.

Pacific Edge Chief Executive Officer David Darling says national and regional provider networks are a key component in the commercial fabric ensuring that healthcare providers and technology suppliers are paid by healthcare payers for treatment provided to patients.

"Our participation in these networks will give a large number of Americans access to Cxbladder and its positive benefits as a quick, cost effective, non-invasive and highly accurate cancer detection test that is particularly appealing to US healthcare professionals, patients, and insurers."

Pacific Edge's agreement with MultiPlan will give MultiPlan's participating providers and its clients' members access to Cxbladder. Approximately 900,000 providers participate in MultiPlan's provider networks and an estimated 68 million consumers have access to one or more of these networks.

Pacific Edge through its wholly owned subsidiary Pacific Edge Diagnostics USA (PEDUSA) has launched Cxbladder in the US and is processing samples collected using its proprietary Urine Sampling System at its custom built, CAP accredited laboratory in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

"Our sales and marketing teams are now focussed on the urologists and clinicians who are treating the largest number of bladder cancer patients to ensure they fully understand the value and benefits that Cxbladder provides to them and their patients" says Jackie Walker, Chief Executive Officer of PEDUSA.

"In addition we are advancing relationships with large commercial payers and the Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which provides healthcare insurance for 100 million people or nearly a third of the American population. Progress is being made with key customer segments including Integrated Healthcare Systems, the Veterans Administration (VA), and Large Urology Groups (LUGS), who are the point of contact for many patients presenting with haematuria (blood in the urine) which is an early indicator of possible bladder cancer."

More than one million Americans a year undergo medical investigation for potential bladder cancer at an estimated cost in excess of US$1 billion. Bladder cancer is one of the most expensive cancers to treat. The very high recurrence rate of this disease, requiring some patients to receive expensive monitoring for the rest of their lives, causes bladder cancer to have the highest total medical costs of any cancer from detection to death. In the US, the total medical cost approaches US$220,000 per patient.