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The agreement – signed between the university and Pro Medicus’ U.S. subsidiary Visage Imaging, Inc. – will provide a framework through which the two parties will collaborate on the development and commercialisation of the platform, looking specifically into its artificial intelligence capabilities.

It will also build on a relationship already established with UCSF through an existing agreement related to Pro Medicus’ Visage 7 Viewer product.

Visage Imaging Global CTO Malte Westerhoff said the partnership around Visage AI Accelerator was a very important milestone.

“Our AI Accelerator program was designed to closely align Visage’s engineering and product development capability with clinical research partners such as UCSF who have a depth of clinical knowledge and extensive research expertise,” he said.

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Mr Westerhoff continued: “It provides a unique set of tools for data de-identification, collection, curation, analysis and ‘path-to-production’ in research projects bringing the efficiency and speed of Visage technology to research, resulting in a unified link between the two domains.”

PME shares last traded at $210.32 – a fall of 1.22% since the market opened.

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Activities to support the study – particularly completion of the first prototype to collect images from the GI tract – have been completed at the research site, the University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz.

Optiscan CEO and managing director Dr Camile Farah visited Germany in January in preparation for this research, which will focus on using images of the GI tract to analyse the company’s Gen2 technology – particularly its imaging capability when it comes to diagnosing and treating GI diseases, including cancer.

Dr Farah was also on-site to lock in planning for the clinical phase of the trial, which will follow over coming months.

It is hoped this staged process of gathering pre-clinical and then clinical data with this Gen2 prototype will be helpful to engineers working with Optiscan in developing the company’s Gen3 flexible endomicroscope, which will be used in future clinical trials.

Collection of imaging datasets of various disease processes – taken from the current study – is also expected to aid with initiation of AI algorithm development by Optiscan’s CRC-P partner, Monash University.

“We are thrilled to be undertaking this study with the prestigious University Medical Center of Mainz,” Dr Farah said.

“It will be under the leadership of renowned world-leading gastroenterologist Professor Ralph Kiesslich, and represents a major step forward in helping to better understand and manage one of the world’s biggest health issues.

“GI diseases represent a significant global health challenge, affecting millions of lives each year. Early detection and precise intervention are critical, yet traditional diagnostic tools often fall short in providing timely and accurate insights.”

Optiscan shares have been trading at 16 cents.

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The agreement follows a successful pilot of 4DMedical’s products with the latter and will be the first commercial contract in Australia to include products from the Pulmonary Function and Pulmonary Structure suites.

A key inclusion will be CT LVAS (Computed Tomography Lung Ventilation Analysis Software), which allows for in-depth analysis of functional lung health from CT scans.

Qscan is one of Australia’s top providers of medical imaging, with 40 clinics in Queensland, New South Wales, ACT, Tasmania, and Western Australia. According to its commercial agreement with 4DMedical, the whole suite of ‘respiratory imaging solutions’ will be available at a range of practices in Brisbane.

4DMedical founder, managing director, and CEO Andreas Fouras said he was pleased to see the company reach a commercial agreement after a successful pilot.

“This partnership ensures that more patients and clinicians have access to detailed, actionable insights into lung health, supporting better healthcare outcomes,” Mr Fouras said.

“Momentum continues to build with the commercialisation of our technology across the US and Australia. With the addition of Qscan to our network of providers in Australia, I am excited to see our footprint expand to ensure our cutting-edge technology is now becoming more readily available to all Australians.”

4DMedical shares have moved up 6.19% after the news to sell at 60c each.

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The executives said the sale – which represents less than 4% of their respective shareholdings – had involved approaches from various institutions, and confirmed they would not be selling any more for the foreseeable future.

The price used for conduct of the sale was $256.73 – Pro Medicus’ last closing price.

Dr Hupert and Mr Hall continue to be the medical imaging software company’s largest shareholders, holding more than 24 million shares each. Their combined stake in Pro Medicus remains at 46% after the sale.

Board chairman Peter Kempen AM said “this sale of shares by the founders is part of a progressive sell down, which provides prospective shareholders with the opportunity to invest in the company and ultimately will increase the “free float”.”

Pro Medicus has been trading at $256.73 this morning.

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While subject to Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approvals, the sale to Asian private equity firm, Affinity Equity Partners, is on a cash, debt and equipment-lease free basis, with net proceeds at about $800 million.

Healius reported the transaction – to be finalised early 2025 – represented a multiple of 17 times FY2024 EBITDA and 25.4 FY2024 EBIT.

Healius’ Managing Director & CEO Paul Anderson said it was good for shareholders, staff, patients and referrers.

“The sale will provide Healius with both the resources and time to continue to improve our pathology operations and the scope to return cash to shareholders,” Mr Anderson said.

“Healius delivers critical diagnostic services to millions of Australians each year, and we are excited by the opportunities to grow and improve the business.”

Meanwhile, Affinity Equity Partners Managing Director Mark Chudek said Lumus aligned to ‘Affinity’s commitment of investing in high quality companies that have significant growth potential’.

“Healthcare is a key investment area for Affinity, and we aim to support companies with the resources they need to expand, serve more patients and deliver improved services to all stakeholders – including Lumus Imaging’s referrers and hospital clients,” he said.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Lumus Imaging’s doctors, healthcare professionals, support staff and management team as we invest further in the business and help drive its growth as it embarks on the next chapter as a standalone entity.”

Healius said the sale of Lumus Imaging followed a review of its structure and assets earlier in the year and would ‘alleviate balance sheet pressures’.

The company would continue providing pathology services in Australia, growing its bioanalytical laboratory services business, Agilex.

It claims the divestment of Lumus ‘is not expected to have any negative impact on the operations or earnings of Healius’ remaining businesses’.

The sale is not subject to finance.

Healius closed trade on Friday at $1.61.

They discuss CurveBeam AI (ASX:CVB), a company in which Mr De Silva is a director. Mr De Silva holds 565,493 ordinary shares, millions of options and 320,928 indirect shares.

The company’s developed a CT scanning device, called HiRise, that works when a patient is weight-bearing, providing imaging while patients are standing. The images can be done within an orthopaedic centre, and release lower radiation levels.

CurveBeam has a market cap of $36 million and was trading at 16 cents (May 28).

KP Rx invests in a diverse range of biotech, medical device, diagnostic, and health tech companies located predominantly in Australia and New Zealand. It is backed by Karst Peak Capital.

Talk Ya Book was created by Chris Judd in 2019 as a show where fund managers could share their highest conviction investment idea but more importantly showcase their investment framework to the public.

Disclaimer: Juddcorp Pty Ltd ACN 635 629 631 is a corporate authorised representative (CAR) (CAR Number 1300536) of Boutique Capital Pty Ltd ACN 621 697 621 AFSL 508011.

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