v2 Report - Additional Information Supplement

PEB Pacific Edge Biotechnology Limited

 

 

IPOs and Investment Opportunities

Press releases

Pacific Edge Biotechnology Limited

PEB

31 Aug, 2007, 15:15

MEETING

Results of PEB Annual General Meeting

 

 

Results of the Pacific Edge Biotechnology Annual General Meeting - Held 30th August 2007

Pacific Edge Biotechnology Limited advises that the following Ordinary Resolutions were passed at its Annual General Meeting:

(a) That Colin Dawson be re-elected as a Director of the Company;
(b) That David Band be elected as a Director of the Company;
(c) That Peter Foster be elected as a Director of the Company;
(d) That Johnny Cochrane be elected as a Director of the Company; and
(e) That PricewaterhouseCoopers be re-appointed as the Company's auditors and the Directors of the Company be authorised to fix the auditors remuneration for the ensuing year.

Biographical Information of New Directors:
David Band
David Band is an experienced international businessman and joins the board having recently returned to New Zealand from Europe. David's career encompasses a period as Director of the Advanced Business Programme at the University of Otago and significant experience in corporate consulting and management. This included extensive periods with Korn/Ferry International, PA Consulting Group and, most recently, Sibson Consulting. At PA he was head of the Management Development Practice.

Peter Foster
Peter Foster is an experienced international manager with a background in the commercialisation of biomedical technology. In addition to nine years academic research in the reproductive endocrinology field, Peter has 27 years experience in the biotech industry (medical diagnostics) including 20 years at Board level. He has held senior roles with Amersham, Serono and Shield Diagnostics (now Axis-Shield) and for the last six years has been CEO of Euro-Diagnostica, a company based in the Netherlands and Sweden. Peter and his wife decided some time ago to move to New Zealand and they have recently moved here full time. Peter has been appointed as the CEO of Symansis, a drug discovery company based in Auckland.

Johnny Cochrane
Johnny Cochrane is an experienced investor and businessman. His career encompasses employment with Lehman Brothers, a leading US investment bank, and more recently with Bank of New Zealand as a Divisional Director of Private Banking. Johnny brings extensive skills and capabilities to the board in the fields of banking, capital raising, capital structure and strategy.

Director Independence

Independent Directors per listing rule 3.3.1.A, 3.3.1B:
The following are Independent Directors:

- Johnny Cochrane
- Peter Foster
- David Band
- Davis Farmer
- Chris Swann (Chairman)


The following Directors are not Independent due to Disqualifying Relationships under the Listing Rules: 3.3.1

- Colin Dawson

- Anthony Reeve

 

Pacific Edge Biotechnology Limited

PEB

6 Jun, 2007, 10:10

GENERAL

Collaborative research agreement with the Ludwig Institute

Pacific Edge Biotechnology signs signed a collaborative research agreement with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

Promising early results for aggressive melanoma test presented at American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

Pacific Edge Biotechnology Ltd, (PEB) is working with the Ludwig Institute's Centre for Clinical sciences in Melbourne, Australia, The focus is on completing the development of a prognostic tool for the segregation of patients with invasive melanoma. Pacific Edge has a number of programs aimed at developing novel tools and methods for the early detection and management of cancers. Its most advanced programs are in colorectal cancer, bladder
cancer and gastric cancer.

Patients diagnosed with melanoma that has spread to the lymph nodes have notoriously unpredictable outcomes, with disease relapse and progression occurring anywhere between several weeks to many years. This variability leads to clinical uncertainty in determining the best course of treatment, and can lead to patients being both under and over-treated. The collaboration between PEB and the Ludwig Institute has set out to overcome the difficulty in identifying patients with aggressive disease by developing a gene expression profile that is able to distinguish between patients with good and bad outcomes.

The early results of the collaboration have been impressive. The team has determined a 15 gene expression signature, that has a predictive accuracy of around 90% and have filed a provisional patent. Further validation studies on independent samples will be completed in the third quarter this year. Successful validation studies would lead to a final clinical trial before the prognostic test being available for release to the market. A test based on this gene signature will not only have application as a test of clinical outcome in melanoma patients but will also find utility in drug development. Patients with poor predicted outcome can be selected for clinical trials resulting in trial cost, size and duration being shortened and allowing new therapies to be focused on those most at need.

The discovery research for the melanoma prognostic assay was undertaken by two teams of researchers one in New Zealand and one in Melbourne. The New Zealand team led by Dr Parry Guilford and the Ludwig Institute team led by oncologist Prof Jonathon Cebon in collaboration with Dr Tom John. Dr John, who received a Merit Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology for this research, has been invited to present the results at that
society's annual meeting in Chicago on June 3rd. New Zealand and Australia have a very high incidence of skin cancer with melanoma being the most serious of the skin cancers. New Zealand has one of the highest melanoma death rates in the world, with the most recent statistics indicating 244 New Zealanders died from
melanoma in 2001. Skin cancer, by far the most common cancer affecting New Zealanders, is also one of the most expensive for the NZ health system, costing about NZ $33 million per year. Sun exposure before the age of 20 years is a particularly strong risk factor for melanoma incidence and it has been estimated that, for every death from skin cancer, an average of 17.4 potential years of life are lost.

The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, (LICR), is a on-profit, global research institute conducting long-term basic and clinical research programs in cancer with approximately 800 scientists, clinicians, and support staff. LICR operates from branches in 9 locations around the world. LICR is the largest international non-profit institute dedicated to understanding and controlling cancer and brings together recognised leaders in many areas of science and oncology, and is one of twenty international organisations recognised as producing research articles of extremely high impact.

Pacific Edge Biotechnology is a biomedical company based in Dunedin, New Zealand, in close proximity to the University of Otago. The Company is engaged in research and product development of diagnostics and prognostic assays for cancers which has led to the development of proprietary tools for the early detection and improved management of cancers. Pacific Edge is traded on the NZX Stock Exchange under the stock code PEB and can be found on the web at www.peblnz.com .

 

Chairman's report

 

Year end 31 March 2007

Previous
1 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL Current *Up/Down corresponding
PERFORMANCE *half/full Year % *half/full year
$NZ'000 $NZ'000
1.1 OPERATING REVENUE
(a) Trading Revenue 84 (51%) 173
(b) Other Revenue 388 (29%) 546
(c) Total Operating Revenue 472 (34%) 719
1.2 OPERATING *SURPLUS (DEFICIT) BEFORE TAXATION (1,881) 25% (2,517)
(a) Less taxation on operating result
1.3 OPERATING *SURPLUS (DEFICIT) AFTER TAX (1,881) 25% (2,517)
(a) Extraordinary Items after Tax [detail in Item 3]
(b) Unrealised net change in value of investment properties
1.4 NET *SURPLUS (DEFICIT) FOR THE PERIOD (1,881) 25% (2,517)
(a) Net *Surplus (Deficit) attributable to minority interests
1.5 NET SURPLUS (DEFICIT) ATTRIBUTABLE TO MEMBERS
OF THE LISTED ISSUER (1,881) 25% (2,517)


The Company has recorded a net loss of $1,880,836 for the year ended 31 March 2007, compared to a loss of $2,516,838 for the year ended 31 March 2006. Between September 2006 and March 2007 the Company raised $1,176,128 via a Share Purchase Plan and Issues Within the 15% Limit. The Share Purchase Plan and the Limited Issue offered ordinary shares at 13.7 cents per share. There is no tax or dividend to be paid.

As a matter of policy, the Company continues to write off all research and development expenditure until the point at which the products or project provides reasonable certainty of cost recovery. The Company, over this period, has made further significant investment in both intellectual property protection and product development.

Preparation for the clinical trial for the bladder cancer diagnostic is almost complete, with clinics in Auckland, Tauranga and Christchurch scheduled to begin patient recruitment
this quarter. This first trial will be fully FDA compliant, enhancing the commercialisation options open to Pacific Edge on trial completion.

The validation study on the Company's prognostic gene signature that is being carried out in Europe by Signature Diagnostics is scheduled to begin shortly.

The year has seen the completion of the discovery phase of the Company's melanoma profiling project. This project, carried out in partnership with the Ludwig Institute in Melbourne, has aimed to develop a gene expression signature that predicts the likely
clinical behaviour of stage III melanoma. This cancer is notoriously unpredictable, with patients usually relapsing anywhere in a range from weeks to many years. Our prototype
test is showing 90% accuracy in predicting rapid or slow progression. Following further validation on additional independent samples, PEB intends to commercialise the gene
expression signature as a tool that will allow clinicians to make markedly more informed judgments on the best treatment plans for patients with this serious cancer.

Our gastric and endometrial cancer early detection projects are progressing favourably.

A prototype test for gastric cancer detection is due in the 3rd quarter this year.

For further information please contact;
David Darling or Chris Swann
Chief Executive Officer Chairman
P: 03 479 5800 P: 03 479 0190
C: 021 797 981 C: 0274 330 191

Director's Report

 

 Investment Centre
enquire about sponsorship and advertising: info@smallcaps.co.nz   

References:
Annual reports 
Price info provided by Findata

Back to smallcaps.co.nz

Copyright © 2007 Small Cap Research Limited. All rights reserved.

Disclosure of Interest: Directors and/or staff of Small Cap Research Limited may have an interest in securities mentioned in this document. Small Cap Research Limited, its employees and agents believe that the information herein is correct at the time of compilation, however they do not warrant the accuracy of that information. Save for any statutory liability which cannot be excluded Small Cap Research Limited further disclaim all responsibility or liability for any loss or damage including consequential loss or damage which may be suffered by any person relying upon such information or any opinion, conclusions, or recommendations herein whether that loss or damage is caused by any fault or negligence on the part of Small Cap Research Limited or otherwise. This disclaimer extends to any entity that may distribute this publication and in which Small Cap Research Limited have an interest.
Notice: This document contains general securities advice only, In preparing this document, Small Cap Research Limited did not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs ('financial circumstances') of any particular person. Accordingly, before acting on any advice contained in this document, you should assess whether the advice is appropriate in light of your own financial circumstances or contact your financial adviser.