Cancer diagnostic company, Pacific Edge, advises that its medical and diagnostic services laboratories in both New
Zealand and the USA have been identified as Essential Businesses and that they are operating during the
Government-directed COVID-19 shutdowns.
The Pacific Edge laboratories, in New Zealand and the USA, will continue to operate with a full staff of technical and
supervisory team members providing Cxbladder analysis services to primary care and secondary care physicians.
The laboratories are controlled access, clean molecular-diagnostic environments and additional safety protocols have
been put in place to enhance the operating environment safety for staff providing services in these challenging
circumstances. These include two separate operations teams with only one team on site at a time, safe distancing, extra
cleaning and sanitisation. Remote working has been enabled for all other employees.
The Company has sufficient laboratory consumables to meet expected demand, with support from its suppliers to ensure
ongoing provision of necessary components.
To help reduce the spread of COVID-19, General Practitioners (GPs) in New Zealand have rapidly moved to doing most of
their patient consultations by phone, email and video. Pacific Edge is uniquely positioned to support medical
practitioners in this challenging time by providing timely evaluation and diagnosis of bladder cancer for their patients
in self-isolation at home, with a minimum of face-to-face contact.
CEO of Pacific Edge, David Darling, said: “For many diseases and illnesses, a timely diagnosis can have a significant
impact on health outcomes. In this challenging healthcare environment, remote consultations and the ability for patients
to supply Cxbladder test samples from home will all help to take the pressure off the healthcare system, while
continuing to provide patients with timely and appropriate care.
“This is a rapidly changing situation. We are closely monitoring our customer's needs, the market and the operating
environment and we will continue to keep the market updated on any further developments.”