Pacific (NZX:PEB): How is NZ leading the world in adoption of Cxbladder?

Highlights

• Pacific Edge uses Cxbladder to detect and manage bladder cancer.
• Northland and Taranaki District Health Boards in NZ have adopted a full set of Cxbladder tests.
• American Urology Association published a lookback study to highlight the effectiveness of Cxbladder.

Pacific Edge specialises in developing and commercialising molecular diagnostic tests that address concerns in the discovery and management of cancer. The Group has its own bladder cancer diagnostics technology, Cxbladder, in the marketplace.

Cxbladder comes as a suite of urine-based molecular tests to quickly and accurately detect the presence or absence of bladder cancer. Cxbladder Detect, Cxbladder Triage, Cxbladder Resolve and Cxbladder Monitor are the tests that are each optimised for a different point in a patient’s health journey.

Image source: © 2021 Kalkine Media, Data source- EODHD/Others

Cxbladder is available in Australia, NZ, Singapore and the United States.

New Zealand’s adoption of Cxbladder

As NZ’s health system strengthens the Māori Health Authority and Health NZ in 2022, Pacific Edge’s set of Cxbladder products is well placed to broaden its exposure under a national clinical route.

The two latest public healthcare providers to use Cxbladder for commercial use are Taranaki DHB and Northland DHB.

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Taranaki DHB is based in New Plymouth. The region serves a population of over 124K with the majority of people aged 50 years or older, comprising mainly rural population and a strong Maori presence. Taranaki DHB will provide access to Cxbladder Triage, Detect, Resolve and Monitor tests for patients all over the region.

The Northland DHB will cover the northernmost part of the region and will cater to a population of over 190K, where roughly 33.33% are Maori and a majority of the population the aged 50 years or older.

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Under the agreement, patients having blood in their urine will now be referred by their GP for the Cxbladder Triage test and will be able to give a urine sample at their local lab. This will save patients from the trouble of travelling long distances to clinics or hospitals for their sample investigation.

American Urology Association affirms Cxbladder’s outperformance

On 18 August, The American Urological Association’s (AUA) Journal of Urology published a lookback study highlighting the clinical utility of Cxbladder being used in the COVID-19 setting for supervising patients outside the clinic.

The study inferred that the use of Cxbladder Monitor and PEB’s Patient-In-Home sampling system reduced the number of cystoscopies required, concluding that the system is safe for patients being checked for urothelial cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The study showed the real-world acceptance of Cxbladder in managing patients who cannot come to clinics, as per David Darling, the CEO of Pacific Edge.

On 15 October, at the time of writing, PEB was trading at $1.39, up 2.96%.

Bottom Line

Many healthcare organisations are adopting Cxbladder tests. They are also recognising the ease with which Cxbadder products can be used and the ease of transfer of urine samples to lab, placing PEB well for the future and giving it a competitive advantage.

(NOTE: Currency is reported in NZ Dollar unless stated otherwise)