Chief executive David Darling said yesterday it was particularly challenging to meet the specific requirements of the European patent.
"An issued European patent is recognition of the very strong science that the scientists at Pacific Edge have achieved."
The new patents joined those recently issued to the company for the detection of bladder cancer and colorectal cancer prognosis in New Zealand.
The bladder cancer detection test Cxbladder had now entered the market in New Zealand and Australia, he said.
The company expected to launch in Spain soon, in conjunction with its Spanish partner Oryzon.
A laboratory was being established in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to enable the commercialisation of Cxbladder in the United States.
"We anticipate that we will have patents issued in other targeted countries over the next 12 to 24 months.
"These new technologies we are now commercialising enable early detection and better management of cancer and are expected to provide significant opportunities for the company globally," Dr Darling said.
Gastric or stomach cancer was one of the most common forms of cancer in the world. An estimated 934,000 new cases of gastric cancer were diagnosed globally each year. The greatest incidences occurred in China, Japan and Korea, he said.
Japan, where cancer had been the leading cause of death since 1981 with gastric cancer one of the most significant, was seen as a significant market.
Of the approximately 137 million people in Japan, about 65 million were over the age of 40 years, in the "at-risk" age group, and entitled to the Japanese Government's national free screening programme for gastric cancer, Dr Darling said.
The worldwide cancerdiagnostic market was growing and the molecular diagnostic component of the market was expected to be worth $US2.2 billion ($NZ2.8 billion) by 2014.
Pacific Edge raised $NZ20 million in September to enable the commercialisation of Cxbladder in the United States.
