Avoid This Biotech Stock

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OraSure Technologies Profile

Source: S&P Capital IQ, Yahoo! Finance, and Motley Fool CAPS.

This Week's Pitch
OraSure stock has been on an upswing since receiving notification of receipt of a CLIA waiver allowing them to market their OraQuick HCV test to outpatient clinics and physician offices. I see the greatest usefulness of the quick HCV test as a rapid screen to weed out unusable blood product donors. HCV might be an important condition to screen for in those other outpatient settings, but why does the result of that test need to come back right away while other equally important tests go to the lab? It's not like you're going to get a prescription for Incivek as you walk out the door. Even if the CLIA waiver ends up increasing test revenues, the effect likely won't be seen for several quarters as the company continues to burn cash and reserves get lower. The same goes for the OraQuick OTC HIV test, which has just completed clinical testing but won't be acted on by the FDA for months. Quarterly burn has been 2-4M and cash reserves were 21M as of the last PR.

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At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors.Dan Dzombakdid not have a position in any of the companies mentioned in this article. Pitches must be compelling, made in the past 30 days, and be at least 400 words.The Motley Fool owns shares of Abbott Laboratories.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Abbott Laboratories. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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