Pacific Edge Undertakes $8m Share Placement

Capital Investment To Assist The Push Through To Cashflow Positive Position 

Cancer diagnostics company, Pacific Edge Limited (NZX:PEB), has undertaken a $8.0 million share placement to institutional and other select investors in New Zealand.

The placement was undertaken at no discount to market, with institutional and other select investors subscribing for new shares at $0.50 cents per share, the market price of Pacific Edge Limited shares traded on Tuesday 14 February 2017. 

Pacific Edge is focused on building sales of its suite of innovative Cxbladder bladder cancer diagnostic tests and has been gaining traction in the USA market with a number of milestone achievements in the past year including:

• Agreed cover and contract pricing with the Veterans Administration and TRICARE;
• The successful completion of a large scale User Programme with healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente with positive and compelling results;
• Continuing positive clinical validation of its Cxbladder technology in NZ and the USA;
• The official USA launch of the third test in its suite of Cxbladder tests; and
• The recently announced release of a fourth test in New Zealand.

The company is generating increasing sales revenue, with a 162% jump in operating revenue in the last financial year to 31 March 2016 to $4.98 million; and test throughput is increasing as greater numbers of urologists trial and purchase Cxbladder tests. While the company has sufficient cash on hand of approximately $9 million for its immediate growth requirements, the new investment provides additional support for Pacific Edge to drive its commercial growth.

Pacific Edge Chairman, Chris Gallaher, commented: “The strong support we received for the share placement from institutional and other select investors in New Zealand has allowed us to cost efficiently and effectively strengthen our balance sheet as we continue to make good traction towards attaining a cashflow positive position.”

Pacific Edge is the only company in the world to have a suite of molecular diagnostic tests in bladder cancer that address different needs throughout the diagnostic and treatment pathway - from investigation of haematuria through to the management of patients who have the disease and are coming back to the clinic for evaluation of the recurrence of bladder cancer. The company is focused on positioning its highly accurate, non-invasive and cost effective Cxbladder technology as the preferred diagnostic tool for clinicians and urologists, and is seeing increasing demand and uptake from both private and public healthcare providers.

Pacific Edge CEO David Darling said: “While we are still in the early stages of our commercial journey, we are now starting to see some real progress, particularly in the United States. We have been investing into our USA infrastructure and the development of multiple new products for the past two years, including a CLIA certified and CAP accredited laboratory, an experienced specialist sales team and the USA launch of three of our four Cxbladder tests.  

“We believe our existing infrastructure and resources are appropriate for our medium term growth goals and anticipate capital requirements for our growth strategy in FY17 will be at a similar level to FY16. The additional funds will be used to progress and expedite our commercial goal of getting to a cash flow positive position as fast as possible, with our focus squarely on the USA.”

Pacific Edge advises that, as at the date of this release, it is in compliance with its continuous disclosure and financial reporting obligations.

ENDS