The future of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare after outgoing the outgoing president, is uncertain after vice-president-elect Mike Pence said yesterday the repeal of the Act would be one of Donald Trump's first imperatives when he became president on January 20.
Republican Party leaders want to get legislation for Mr Trump to sign by February 20.
''Make no mistake,'' Mr Pence told reporters. ''We're going to keep our promise to the American people. We're going to repeal Obamacare and replace it with solutions that lower the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government.''
Mr McIntyre said in an interview Obamacare had been beneficial to Pacific Edge, as it gave the company access to millions of potential clients in the US.
If Mr Trump went ahead with his promise, the ''dicing and slicing'' of Obamacare would present some risks for Pacific Edge, along with other health-care companies.
''Obamacare has been really good for Pacific Edge. Any plans to change health care in the US will provide a threat.''
Pacific Edge had a stand-out year in 2016 as it launched more products into the US market.
At the end of last year, the company announced its fourth product launch into the US with Cxbladder Resolve.
Pacific Edge chief executive David Darling said Resolve, a frontline tool for urologists targeting the identification of patients with high-grade or late-stage disease, was now available to New Zealand urologists and would be progressively launched into other markets, including the United States, this year.
When haematuria (blood in the urine) was first being investigated, Resolve could allow high-risk patients to be fast-tracked for further clinical investigation and treatment.
Cxbladder Monitor, which was launched in the US in December, had been designed to be used on patients as part of their ongoing surveillance regime to quickly and accurately identify those who had a low probability of having recurrent bladder cancer.
The other two products were Cxbladder Detect and Cxbladder Triage.
''We are seeing growing demand from patients and physicians for our accurate, non-invasive, cost-effective and simple-to-use 'one-stop shot' of Cxbladder tests,'' Mr Darling said.
Resolve was the fourth product and filled another of the identified needs physicians had, allowing clinicians to fast-track patients identified with high-grade or late-stage bladder cancer.
Pacific Edge's goal was to provide a suite of tests to provide physicians with more accurate and effective detection and management options at all stages of bladder cancer, Mr Darling said.
Mr McIntyre said 2017 would be an important year for Pacific Edge, one in which it would have to prove to investors it was well on the way to lifting its revenue while maintaining costs.
So far, Pacific Edge had done a good job of building platforms and relationships in the US.
''I've been saying for four to five years they need to start developing more products. They really only have four in the market. The bladder cancer diagnostic tool is one product for one treatment. Pacific Edge is not terribly diversified.''
The company should take its expertise to create tools to identify other forms of cancer, Mr McIntyre said.
Pacific Edge was not the only biotech company in the market. Gilead Sciences, for instance, had a price-to-earnings ratio of 10 times and market capitalisation of $US100billion ($NZ143.5billion). Shire Pharmaceuticals was also a competitor.
The Dunedin company risked having its technology and products superseded by a better form of diagnostic tool, he said.
Another concern for Pacific Edge investors was the likelihood of further capital raising. The company burned through about $15million in cash a year and the latest balance sheet showed cash and reserves of about $14million.
The company had a target of $100million in revenue by 2019 but was well behind in delivering on that goal.
''For them to really gain traction, they have to prove a significant uplift in revenue while maintaining costs. If they go back to shareholders to raise capital, which is a distinct possibility, there will be some resistance.
''I hope I am proven wrong and this year is the one where Pacific Edge turns the corner.''
