Epitope shares fall

- After CNBC-TV correspondent Dan Dorfman reported that Epitope of the USA is backing down from a profit forecast made earlier this year, company shares fell 1.25 points to $14.25. Mr Dorfman said that the firm privately told an analyst that it will not show a profit in the second half of the current year, and was hedging about next year. Epitope lost $1.56 per share for the year ended September 30, 1994. Company officials were not available for comment.

In June, the firm said it submitted a premarket approval application to the US Food and Drug Administration for a Western blot confirmation test for HIV-1 that will be used with its OraSure HIV screening test. OraSure was approved by the FDA last December.