Ann: OFFICE: PEB: Pacific Edge Diagnostics NZ Ltd

• Release Date: 04/03/13 13:08
• Summary: OFFICE: PEB: Pacific Edge Diagnostics NZ Ltd New Appointment
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PEB
04/03/2013 11:08
OFFICE

REL: 1108 HRS Pacific Edge Limited

OFFICE: PEB: Pacific Edge Diagnostics NZ Ltd New Appointment

4 March 2013

Pacific Edge Diagnostics NZ appoints NZ-Australia Commercial Manager

Pacific Edge Diagnostics NZ is pleased to announce the appointment of Brent
Pownall as Commercial Manager. Brent Joins the team in Dunedin from Auckland
and will lead the commercial activity of Pacific Edge's innovative and
non-invasive bladder cancer diagnostic system Cxbladder in New Zealand and
Australia.

Brent, who has extensive experience at senior management levels in the life
sciences industry, will enable the company grow its capability to provide its
franchise-like service to clinicians in both countries for the delivery of
Pacific Edge's diagnostic tests for the early detection of cancer.

The role will also ensure processes currently developed with clinicians in NZ
and Australia are readily transferable to the company's international
partners delivering Cxbladder globally. This is key to ensuring a consistent
clinical experience for both the clinician and the patient.

Announcing the appointment of Brent Pownall, Pacific Edge Chief Executive
Officer David Darling said the roll-out of Cxbladder, since its launch last
year, is steadily gaining momentum in Australia and New Zealand and we expect
to have the product commercially available in the US early in the current
year 2013.

"Clinicians are quick to appreciate the ability of Cxbladder as a quick, cost
effective and accurate measure of the presence of the cancer and its
acceptability to patients for its ease of use. Cxbladder provides urologists
with the opportunity to provide an enhanced clinical perspective of the
potential of a bladder tumour and from a patients perspective, reduce their
reliance on the need for invasive tests such as cystoscopy to detect the
bladder tumours." The test is now being used and evaluated by clinicians in
New Zealand and Australia to provide a clinical perspective in up to seven
different ways with some clinicians using the test to aid their specific
practice in more than one application.

Brent is the former New Zealand Sales Director and Country Manager for MP
Biomedicals a US-based life sciences distribution and manufacturing company
which acquired Auckland-based start-up ICP Bio, specialising in large scale
separation and purification of various proteins from bovine plasma. These
products are used in life science research, cell culture, and diagnostic and
therapeutic drug applications at laboratory scale up to large-scale
biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

Brent has recently completed his Master of Business Administration from
Auckland University and has tertiary qualifications from Lincoln University
and the University of New South Wales.

For further information please contact:
David Darling
Chief Executive Officer
Pacific Edge

USA Cell:  +1 (415) 515 8636
NZ Cell:    +64 (21) 797981

ABOUT PACIFIC EDGE
Pacific Edge Limited (NZX: PEB) is a New Zealand based cancer diagnostic
company specialising in the discovery and commercialisation of diagnostic and
prognostic technology for the early detection and monitoring of cancer.
Products in development and in clinical trials are accurate and simple to use
genomic and proteomic tools for the earlier detection, improved
characterisation and better management of gastric, bladder, colorectal
cancers and melanoma. The company has recently completed and released its
first product for the detection of bladder cancer, Cxbladder, and is actively
marketing the product to urologists in New Zealand, Australia and soon to be
Spain and Portugal and the US.
www.pacificedge.co.nz

ABOUT PACIFIC EDGE DIAGNOSTICS
Pacific Edge takes its exciting cancer detection tests to market through its
wholly owned subsidiaries, Pacific Edge Diagnostics NZ Ltd and Pacific Edge
Diagnostics USA Ltd, and selected commercial partners in Australia and Spain,
Healthscope and Oryzon respectively.

www.pacificedgedx.com

ABOUT Cxbladder
Cxbladder is a non-invasive, accurate test that enables the early detection
of bladder cancer from a small volume of urine. It provides general
practitioners and urologists with a quick, cost effective and accurate
measure of the presence of the cancer, and provides urologists with the
opportunity to reduce their reliance on the need for invasive tests such as
cystoscopy. The recently completed multi-centre international clinical study
recruited 467 patients from Australia and New Zealand. Results show that
Cxbladder outperforms all of the benchmark technologies in the trial and
detected nearly all of the tumours of concern to a urologist; greater than
95% of all late stage and high grade tumours.

www.cxbladder.com
ABOUT BLADDER CANCER
Globally, bladder cancer has the 9th highest incidence and the 4th highest
incidence for men. One of the early symptoms of bladder cancer is the
presence of blood in the urine, haematuria. People with haematuria often
present to their general practitioner before being referred on to a
urologist.

There are a number of 'at risk' occupations that have shown a much higher
incidence of bladder cancer. Fire fighters and fire control officers have
shown in a US study to have a 2x incidence of bladder cancer over non fire
fighters.   Smoking is a significant contributing factor (over 50% in males
and 33% in females, approximately 1 of every 2 new incidences of bladder
cancer is linked to smoking).  Exposure to certain industrial chemicals or
carcinogens increases risks for some occupations e.g. hairdressers, painters,
printers, fire fighters and metal workers, chemical engineers. Finally,
incidence increases with age so the older you are, the greater the potential
for bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer has a very high recurrence rate of approximately 50%-70% with
up to 30% of these recurring as later stage tumours. This is a higher
recurrence than for skin cancer!  However, bladder cancers are highly
treatable, especially if detected in the early stages. If diagnosed early
there is a much higher probability of survival for early stage tumours
relative to later stage tumours. This makes timely and regular surveillance
and monitoring of this cancer a key element of the clinical process and of
the individual's annual healthcare plan.
End CA:00233718 For:PEB    Type:OFFICE     Time:2013-03-04 11:08:18