The price action on CST has been unpredictable. The drop to $1 -...

The price action on CST has been unpredictable. The drop to $1 - back to $1.50 - now slipping back towards $1.20.

Since the rise to $1.50 the AFEB recommendation has been released and on balance positive for QF-1.

My position in CST was based on QF-2 now renamed as QF-Gold. The market for a test unaffected by prior BCG vaccination was orders of magnitude greater than QF-1. The costs of TB testing say in Japan are high and there would be a greater incentive to use the test.

When I saw the press release of 9-May-2003 - part below:

Clinical studies of QuantiFERON®-TB GOLD in over 1,000 people in Japan, Denmark and Australia
demonstrated major increases in accuracy over the Mantoux test. The new test accurately
identifies people with latent TB and recent infections — effectively removing the large number of
false-positive Mantoux test results.
“Until now, medical practitioners have had no alternative but to interpret Mantoux test results in
conjunction with their belief of the person’s true risk of TB infection. The problem is that the
treatment for TB infection can be toxic, and a falsely positive person is being treated for no reason.
QuantiFERON®-TB GOLD is immune to BCG effects, allowing doctors to find and treat those who
really have a TB infection and dramatically reducing number of people unnecessarily taking drugs
that may damage their liver,” said Dr Radford.

The key words were:

"QuantiFERON®-TB GOLD is immune to BCG effects"

convinced me that there could be a longer wait for revenue - why would you start with QF-1 for a test program with BCG issues unresolved - wait for QF-Gold and cover everybody.

Perhaps it is the pain of delayed revenue before the pleasure of increased revenue.