In an interview with the Otago Daily Times before yesterday's annual meeting, Dr Darling said a big year of investment lay ahead for the Dunedin-based biotechnology company. Shareholders had given their approval for the company to increase its operations in the United States, and that was under way.
"Looking forward, the next 12 to 18 months will be driven largely by opportunities - rolling out our business in the US. We are all on track and it is happening to plan. The US offers significant opportunities."
Earlier this month, the American Journal of Urology, which circulates to an estimated 18,000 members of the American Urological Association and other urologists around the world, published further evidence that confirmed the effectiveness of Pacific Edge's Cxbladder test.
Specifically, the paper found the "simple-to-use, non-invasive Cxbladder test has the ability to detect nearly all tumours of concern to urologists".
Dr Darling said the finding was important. The US, the largest healthcare market in the world, was the most important market for Pacific Edge in its global roll-out of Cxbladder.
Last weekend, Pacific Edge had received "phenomenal interest" from GPs attending the GPCME (GP continuing medical education) conference held in Dunedin. The conferences, attended by urologists, general practitioners and other medical specialists, were held in two venues, one in the North Island and one in the South.
When it came to bladder trauma for their patients, GPs had too few tools, Dr Darling said.
When people found blood in their urine, they first went to see their GP who could check for infections or stones. That involved ultrasound. Doctors could use cytology tests but Pacific Edge research had shown the tests did not provide relevant information.
"They now have options with Cxbladder. They have something else in their toolkit."
For the "worried well", it was faster and easier to find out facts on their health issues. That was particularly important as men became more aware of the need for regular health checks, he said.
The 2012 financial year was a turning point for the company which started out in life with no-one really knowing whether what was planned could happen, Dr Darling said.
Now, the company was rolling out its test kits globally, had two, perhaps three, new products in train for the "family" of Cxbladder products while closely guarding its patents and technology in Dunedin.
"However, the big kahuna is the US market place. This is a huge opportunity. We are on track, on time, well funded and its highly exciting."
