NZX-Listed Pacific Edge Limited today advises its Dunedin-based laboratory has been awarded ISO accreditation status, further opening up international selling opportunities. The assessment was done by the International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) for the International Standard; ISO15189 : 2012 for Medical Laboratories.  

Pacific Edge Chief Executive David Darling said: “Gaining the IANZ accreditation is a very important step for us particularly for the commercial servicing of markets, such as those in South East Asia, using our New Zealand based laboratory. It is yet another milestone for us as we seek commercial opportunities”.

Pacific Edge Diagnostics NZ Quality Manager Lisa Cambridge said: “The accreditation was for the technical competency and quality of our New Zealand based laboratory. This provides us with national and international quality recognition and will compliment the USA based CLIA accreditation that has already been gained by our clinical laboratory here in Dunedin.”

The IANZ process assesses and accredits applicants against standards in a number of fields of technology, including those developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation, a world wide federation made up of 163 member countries who develop international standards.

Accreditation is a formal recognition of technical competency through assessment, including an annual on-site assessment of an organisation’s quality management system and competency in technical areas such as staff, methods and equipment, testing and quality control.

David Darling noted that while Pacific Edge continued to look at ways of securing its ground-breaking cancer technology in global markets, its main focus remained on building sales momentum in the US, the world’s largest healthcare market. “We are now in our second year of commercial operations there.  Laboratory throughput continues to track 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.”