Decision Diagnostics Corp. (OTCBB:DECN) Remains In the Red

In yesterday’s session Decision Diagnostics Corp. (OTCBB:DECN) slipped by another 8%, logging its fifth red day in a row. The ticker moved over 420 thousand shares and ended the session at $0.64 by the closing bell.

The company’s stock that was hovering around the $0.15 – $0.25 range over the summer, before a collateral catalyst sent it into a flurry of volume and helped DECN nearly triple in half a month. The company’s main focus and the culprit for the sudden surge is DECN‘s diabetes patient testing strips, marketed under the Genstrip name.

Diabetes patients comprise a significant market and the testing strip portion of that was largely dominated by someone much bigger than DECN, namely NYSE-listed mastodon Johnson & Johnson. The strips produced by DECN are compatible with J&J’s OneTouch Ultra glucose measurement device but happen to be a cheaper alternative that allegedly produces results that are just as accurate.

This led to J&J filing an infringement lawsuit more than a year ago. The usual outcome of such scenarios, where huge companies sue much smaller businesses encroaching on their turf, is quick and devastating. However, this time around things didn’t play out that way. The case is still not resolved and in August DECN filed a counter-claim that J&J employed misleading advertising, claiming that their strips provided more accurate results than Genstrip.

A panel comprised of four judges notified DECN that there was ‘reasonable likelihood’ that their claim would come on top. In early October DECN informed through press announcements that the company was gearing up to fulfill large orders of the Genstrip product. With the much cheaper (50% less than J&J’s, according to DECN) version of the strip allegedly attracting the attention of retailers, the future of both the product and DECN may hinge on the outcome of the original lawsuit filed by Johnson & Johnson and the final counter-claim ruling.

Other OTC stocks that shifted large dollar volumes in yesterday’s session include Sigma Labs, Inc. (OTCMKTS:SGLB) who seem to have gained sufficient popularity among traders to constantly crop up among the most heavily traded tickers. SGLB closed 4% down yesterday, stopping at $0.18 per share. Puget Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:PUGE) were far less fortunate and slumped by almost 29%, down to a close of $0.99.