Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among Canadian women and is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death. One in eight Canadian women can expect to receive a breast cancer diagnosis during their lifetime with a 19% chance of dying from the disease.
Breast cancer surgery is often required, and patient outcomes are heavily dependent on the quality and accuracy of the procedure as well as follow-up treatments. One of the largest concerns in breast conserving surgery, the preferred approach for patients with early-stage cancer, is identification of the pathologic margin status or in layperson’s terms, “did we get all of it?”
Unfortunately, determining the pathologic status of the surgical margins is difficult, resulting in the reoperation rate of 23% in Canada. This plays havoc on the emotional well-being of the patient, who rather than gamble on another possible failed procedure, opt for a full mastectomy, which is considerably more invasive, more expensive and adds significantly to the patient’s social and psychological stressors during recovery.
Perimeter Medical Imaging AI (PINK.V) is a company focused on reducing the reoperation rate of breast cancer surgery by providing surgeons with real-time high-resolution imagery to assist in their examination of surgical margin tissues. The company’s flagship S-Series OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) device can be rolled into the room as the surgery is taking place, delivering the clearest 2mm subsurface imagery available. Ten times clearer than standard X-Ray and ultrasound, and 100X greater than MRI.
Regular analysis of margin tissues microscopic examination in a lab and take 2-7 days to complete, well after the patient has left the operating room, while OCT provides clear results in just 15 minutes allowing for a real-time analysis of the procedure.
Adding to their arsenal, Perimeter is upping its own game with its investigational B-Series OCT with Image Assist AI. The company is advancing the development of its proprietary, next generation AI technology to better identify malignant tissue in the surgical margin, further helping surgeons in their pursuit of confirming “they got it all.”
In fact, the ATLAS AI project which is collecting images of breast tumors to both train and test the company’s ImgAssist AI technology was funded in part by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to the tune of $7.4 million USD. As well, the B-Series OCT coupled with ImgAssist AI was granted Breakthrough Device Designation by the U.S. FDA. This is a tremendous amount of institutional and governmental support for something that could forever change breast cancer treatment for the better.
Here’s what we think:
Interest in Perimeter initially skyrocketed after the company received a $43.0 million CAD pat on the back from Social Capital, but R&D is hard and Chamath Palihapitaya, the SPAC king and head of Social Capital, lost favor with the investment community. Perimeter was punished by the market, dropping 75% from $4.00 per share in January 2022 to $1.00 today.
The hype is gone, and even though Perimeter reported a net loss of $344,790 for the quarter ending September 30, 2023, the company had pulled in $186,670 in revenues, an increase of 33.69% from the same period a year before. In the end, the company had beat EPS estimates by 83.27%.
Medical devices are difficult to bring to market and Perimeter is still carrying out clinical trials on its B-Series OCT device, but obligatory risk aside, the company continues to move ahead and expand its client base and well, it has something worthwhile that could radically change the world of breast cancer treatment. This one deserves a look. Remember to do your due diligence and speak with an investment professional before making any decisions about your portfolio. Good luck to all.
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