Japan to play a big role for Pacific Edge

Friday 13th August 2004

Biotech companies and others among the loss-making, dividend-passing and low share price investments, might eventually become market darlings. Of course, they might not either.

One company with loads of groundbreaking research behind it; a ton of potential but no actual earnings is Pacific Edge Biotechnology.

Pacific Edge has been developing products for cancer treatment, an area of research where progress can be measured in years.

The shares have jumped up and down a bit lately on news that the company is close to signing a breakthrough deal with a Japanese pharmaceutical company, which could offer multimillion-dollar investment.

This is pretty good news because at balance date in March the company's capital was $9.62 million, accumulated deficit was $7.09 million, leaving shareholders' equity of $2.52 million.

That has since been boosted by a private placement of six million shares, raised by brokers Forsyth Barr.

But the company is burning through $1.4 million a year, according to chairman Trevor Scott.

If the Japanese deal goes through, and the company is negotiating with two other firms there as well, Pacific Edge could secure development work for at least four years and be able to fund more oncology tests.

The company, based near the University of Otago, has developed an extensive oncology database to correlate clinical information on cancer progression.

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