Pacific Edge Adds To Its Growing List Of Issued Patents

Specialist cancer diagnostic company Pacific Edge has been granted further international patents for two more of its cancer detection technologies.

The NZX-listed company has announced that a patent filed in Japan as part of its technology targeted to detect stomach cancer has been granted where, according to the World Cancer Research Fund, stomach cancer is the world's fifth most common cancer and Japan has the third highest incidence. The same technology has previously been patented in New Zealand, Australia, China and Europe. Mexico has granted a patent to Pacific Edge for its technology essential in the development of one of the company's future products Cxbladder Predict.

Pacific Edge CEO David Darling says the company's growing patent portfolio is essential to Pacific Edge's commercial growth and development and is reflective of the great science underpinning the company's products.

"Our intellectual property is our key asset: securing that is the basis of our programme to develop diagnostic and prognostic tests that improve the detection and management of cancer around the world," says David Darling.

"Having patents in many of our key markets and proposed markets - covering the Americas, Asia, Europe (38 countries) and Australasia - provides us with the scope to deliver on our long-term commercial goals and in doing so create additional value for shareholders."

"While it is important for the company to seek patent protection in key jurisdictions, our main focus continues to be building sales momentum for Cxbladder in the US, the world's largest healthcare market, where we have just now started into our second year of commercial operations. Laboratory through-put is tracking to the company's expectations following an active direct sales and marketing program to clinicians and healthcare organisations. Pacific Edge Diagnostics USA has 12 dedicated sales executives operating in key geographic regions."

"In tandem with the significant progress we are making with our existing products, Pacific Edge will continue to develop new detection technologies for a range of cancers with a view to commercialising those technologies. Further developments of the Cxbladder technology are underway with the next product, Cxbladder Triage due to be released in the US this year after its successful launch in New Zealand. Cxbladder Triage allows clinicians to segregate patients who have presented to their healthcare provider with haematuria (blood in the urine, an early indicator of possible bladder cancer) who have a low probability of having urothelial carcinoma. The use of this new product Cxbladder Triage provides upside and cost saving for the patient, the clinician and the healthcare system to exclude a significant proportion of these patients from having to have a full clinical work-up for bladder cancer that is both expensive and invasive."