Pacific Edge gets two-year, $3 million extension to Callaghan grant

Tuesday 21st March 2017

Pacific Edge has won a two-year extension to its Callaghan Innovation research grant to fund the development of its Cxbladder diagnostic suite of products for bladder cancer detection.

The Dunedin-based firm has received up to $3 million of extra funding for research and development spread over two years, on top of an initial three-year grant of $4.5 million it received in 2014, it said in a statement. Since the first grant was awarded, Pacific Edge has launched three new products to add to the original bladder cancer diagnostics test, with each test addressing different clinical needs. The shares rose 3.5 percent to 59 cents.

"Investment into research and development is a major focus for Pacific Edge and we are continually looking at how we can provide better and more targeted diagnostic tools for clinicians and their patients," chief executive David Darling said. "The Growth Grant supplements Pacific Edge’s own investment into R&D and will enable us to bring new innovations through into new products and product improvements."

The company raised $8 million in February through a share placement to institutional investors to shore up its balance sheet as it ramps up efforts to lift commercial growth. It started making commercial sales in 2013 and at the time was targeting $100 million in gross revenue within five years.

The recent capital raise left it with $9 million of cash to fund its immediate growth needs, and when reporting its first half result in November it signalled plans to have all four Cxbladder products fully launched in the US by 2018.

Pacific Edge spent $2.5 million on research in the six months ended Sept. 30, 2016, up from $1.9 million a year earlier, while its sales and marketing costs rose to $707,000 from $446,000. Operating revenue in the period rose 42 percent to $3.8 million.

(BusinessDesk receives funding from Callaghan Innovation to help cover the commercialisation of innovation.)

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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