4Dx,  the latest Australian med-tech company to pass a clinical trial, is eyeing an ASX listing next year.

The company has developed a lung imaging platform, XV, that in the words of founder & CEO Andreas Fouras “gives a complete and unprecedented picture of a patient’s lungs”.

This can detect diseases such as lung cancer and help with identifying side-effects to lung disease treatments.

It uses no dyes whatsoever, needs no injections and uses 35 times less radiation than the next best scan. In Fouras’ own words “Breathe for 20 seconds and it’s complete”.

 

“Not surprised — but quite excited.”

Stockhead spoke with Fouras earlier today after the company learned of, and announced, the success of the 13-month trial. It showed XV was superior in detecting and locating the loss of lung functions either because of disease or side-effects of treatments.

“We’re not surprised but we’re quite excited. We got everything and even more than we were hoping for,” he said.

“You can see in detail what’s happening outside. In a number of cases we were able to see 4-8 months in advance of other tests what was going wrong.

“The death rate for lung cancer is among the worst and one of the reasons it kills more than other is if you catch it late you really are up against it.

“But its not only cancer; say you’ve got asthma, start a new treatment and you want to know it works – you may have to wait a long time to see if it’s working.

“But with a test like ours you can see more quickly if it’s working.”

Fouras also said it would be beneficial for doctors because it can be done with existing equipment, only more efficiently. He said there was strong interest from hospitals in Australia and the US.

Eyes on the prize(s)

4Dx is now eyeing 2 golden geese: FDA approval and an ASX listing.

It is common knowledge that FDA is the hardest certification to gain but many other firms seek it last. 4DX wants to go for  it first and will make a submission by years’ end.

“We’re a proudly Aussie company, based in Australia but [with] the FDA being the toughest market in terms of regulation we thought we’d start there first,” said Fournas.

He argued if 4Dx could make it in America, it could make it anywhere else. “It’s common to do it easy – Europe first and the US last but we’re feeling confident.”

The idea was first conceived in May 2005 and Fouras has been working on it ever since. He said to stay unlisted for 14 years was not unusual but believed the time to list was now. This week he is seeking broker interest in Melbourne.

“Now we think our moment has come now. We have every expectation we’ll be doing it [ASX listing] next calendar year. I am happy to say some of the best known [brokers] are quite interested in doing the IPO next year”.

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