NZX ANNOUNCEMENT: Released 9 July 2014

Cancer diagnostic developer and service provider Pacific Edge is set to launch an e-commerce platform later this month to make its Cxbladder technology available to all New Zealanders from the convenience of their home.

The e-commerce platform on the company’s website, https://www.cxbladder.com, provides New Zealand residents with the ability to order a urine testing service on-line with samples analysed by Pacific Edge Diagnostics at its Dunedin laboratory. A detailed test report will be sent directly to the purchaser’s general practitioner or nominated healthcare professional. The e-commerce site has been reviewed and approved by Medsafe, the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority, and TAPS, Therapeutic Advertising Pre-vetting System of the Advertising Standards Authority.

Pacific Edge Diagnostics’ Commercial Director Brent Pownall says the service will allow those people with hematuria (blood in the urine, one of the early indicators of possible bladder cancer) a readily accessible and easy to use service that will provide actionable results to them and their clinicians. This translates to a higher level of confidence in the results, giving the patient greater peace of mind.

“Multi-centre clinical trials conducted in New Zealand, Australia and published in the Journal of Urology in September 2012 have demonstrated that Pacific Edge’s non-invasive diagnostic Cxbladder system out-performs all benchmark technologies by detecting nearly all of the tumours of concern to urologists.”

Purchasers of the urine testing service in New Zealand will be sent the proprietary Urine Sampling System (USS) developed by Pacific Edge, to be used for collecting a urine sample for the Cxbladder test. The easy to use USS allows purchasers the convenience of collecting a sample in their own home, without the need to visit their doctor or specialist.

 “There are many New Zealanders who are aware that there is a technology available that can complement or provide an alternative to the standard invasive tests, but are not sure how to access the Cxbladder service other than through their doctor. This e-commerce site will enable patients to take advantage of Cxbladder to maintain a regime of evaluation that suits their individual needs. The physician and clinician gain the additional information on a timely and regular basis to supplement their clinical regime.”

“Our goal is to make this new technology as readily accessible as buying an ice-cream from the corner dairy. This will ensure that the disease can be found early and that clinicians will get to know very early on which patients are high priority.”

“The launch of the e-commerce platform in New Zealand will be a further addition to Pacific Edge’s drive to build commercial revenues from Cxbladder. Providing patients with direct access to chose Cxbladder is a key part of our commercial strategy, to drive demand for the product in the New Zealand market from both the patient and the clinician.”

Health statistics in New Zealand show that approximately 600 people a year are diagnosed with bladder cancer and there are around 170 deaths a year attributed to the symptoms, but many times more are referred for urological workups following a diagnosis of hematuria. On average less than one in ten of those suffering from some form of hematuria are likely to be diagnosed with bladder cancer. 

Pacific Edge continues its focus on driving revenue for its urology based technology Cxbladder in the world’s largest health market, the USA and achieving the company’s target of having sales revenue there of $100 million a year after five years of trading. Four National Provider Networks (NPN) in the USA have already approved Cxbladder for inclusion in their networks.

Pacific Edge is committed to boosting its sales and marketing team in the USA this year and building relationships with Large Urology Groups, Integrated Healthcare Providers and additional provider networks.