Kaiser Permanente adds second Pacific Edge Cxbladder product

Cxbladder Triage is a tool for use by clinicians and physicians in primary evaluation of patients with haematuria. Photo / Supplied

Pacific Edge shares marched higher on news that healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente would begin using the NZX-listed company's Cxbladder triage product from July.

Kaiser first approved commercial use of Pacific Edge products a year ago, an agreement the Kiwi company described as a "huge breakthrough".

Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest non-profit healthcare providers in the US, with over 12 million members. It operates 39 hospitals and employs about 23,000 physicians.

The initial phase was for commercial use of Cxbladder products by its urologists for patients being evaluated and managed for bladder and urothelial cancer.

It now intends commercial use of a second product, Cxbladder Triage, for patients presenting with haematuria (blood in the urine and a key indicator of bladder cancer).

Pacific Edge's technology allows urine samples to be provided through a specialised sample system with buffers that protect the genetic material while it is sent to one of the company's two labs for diagnosis from anywhere in the world.

The company's shares climbed 5 per cent to $1.26 in morning trading, following big gains over the past 12 months.

Chief executive David Darling said Kaiser adding Triage was another positive step for the company.

"Since reaching commercial agreement with Kaiser Permanente we have focused on working with them to provide their urologists with a great user experience. This requires successfully integrating Cxbladder into their internal electronic medical records systems to ensure that our products and services are easily accessible to their urologists and patients.

"While Covid-19 continues to impact the speed of the Cxbladder rollout across the Kaiser Permanente network, going forward we expect that their demand for Cxbladder will continue to increase as Covid-19 related restrictions ease and they expand the use of the use of two Cxbladder products."

Kaiser plans to progressively roll out Cxbladder Triage, alongside Cxbladder Monitor, across its network.

Pacific Edge last month posted a 101 per cent increase in revenue for the 12 months ending March 31, while reducing its after-tax net loss by 25 per cent.

Total revenue was $10.4 million, while operating revenue from test sales was up 76 per cent to $7.7m. The net loss was $14.2m.