--- title: "Tempus AI tops 80% sensitivity on 12 lung biomarkers but withholds the specificity number" description: "An AI panel reading routine lung slides flagged all 12 NSCLC biomarkers above 80% sensitivity across 60,459 cases. The number Tempus withheld, specificity, decides whether the flag trims lab workload or sells more of its own tests, and it lands six days before the Q3 print." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Health" published: 2026-10-21T17:11:11.635Z modified: 2026-10-21T17:11:11.635Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/tempus-ai-tops-80-sensitivity-on-12-lung-biomarkers-but-withholds-the-specificity-number language: en keywords: "Tempus AI, Diagnostics, AI, Oncology, Earnings" --- # Tempus AI tops 80% sensitivity on 12 lung biomarkers but withholds the specificity number > An AI panel reading routine lung slides flagged all 12 NSCLC biomarkers above 80% sensitivity across 60,459 cases. The number Tempus withheld, specificity, decides whether the flag trims lab workload or sells more of its own tests, and it lands six days before the Q3 print. [Tempus AI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tempus-ai), the Nasdaq-listed Chicago precision-medicine company, [said on October 19](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261019198806/en) that an AI panel reading routine H&E slides, the purple-and-pink stain every lung tumor already gets, topped 80% sensitivity for all 12 biomarkers it assessed in advanced non-small cell lung cancer, above 90% for several it did not name, across 60,459 cases from 56,969 patients [1]. The study ran through Tempus's collaboration with the drugmaker [Pfizer](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/pfizer) and reaches the European Society for Medical Oncology congress in Madrid as poster 320P on October 25 [1][2]. Where the flag lands is cash. Tempus diagnostics revenue was $289.3 million in the June quarter, up 20%, oncology test volume grew 31%, and management [lifted 2026 revenue guidance to $1.595–1.605 billion](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/F3M.SG/earnings/F3M.SG-Q2-2026-earnings_call-660947.html) [3]. The stock already trades on test economics: [Morgan Stanley](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/morgan-stanley) reimbursement commentary lifted shares about 30% in one September week on $330–400 million of expected pricing gains [4]. ## The half of the scorecard Tempus left out The release names none of the 12 biomarkers and gives no specificity, no predictive values, no AUC [1][2]. Sensitivity says what the AI catches; specificity says who pays for the net. Tempus states the design goal in its own words: to "increase the number of patients who receive appropriate biomarker testing" [1]. The confirmatory test is what Tempus sells, through Paige Predict, which came with an $81.25 million acquisition that closed on August 22, 2025, and Tempus Preview, which returns predictions about 24 hours after a sample arrives [1][2]. *Chart: **Revenue has grown more than 20% year over year for ten straight quarters** Line chart of Tempus AI quarterly revenue from Q1 2024 to Q2 2026, rising from $145.8M to $382.5M with a dip in Q1 2026.* *Quarterly revenue in USD millions from Tempus AI's SEC filings; the annotation marks the first quarter of positive GAAP net income. [5]* Revenue has [grown more than 20% year over year for ten straight quarters](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001717115), to $382.5 million in the June quarter from $145.8 million in early 2024, and the first positive GAAP net income, $5.6 million, arrived only last quarter, after a $245 million loss in 2025 [5][3][6]. The library was bought: Ambry for $600 million, Paige, and now Personalis, pending at about $1.5 billion since July [6][3]. ## The fair case, and the same-day rival Tempus's own case is reasonable: the panel "remains in development," is "not intended to replace established molecular or immunohistochemistry testing," and targets a real bottleneck, biopsies too small for full sequencing [1]. Competition is live regardless. Imagene AI of Tel Aviv and Mindpeak of Hamburg [announced their own H&E lung panel the same Monday](https://www.azcentral.com/press-release/story/139507/imagene-ai-and-mindpeak-collaborate-to-bring-ai-powered-nsclc-biomarker-profiling-into-digital-pathology-workflows/), research use only, covering eight named alterations including EGFR and ALK, and they will be in Madrid too; Imagene's earlier lung panel already carries a CMS payment code [7][2]. ## Madrid answers Sunday, the cash answers on November 2 [Poster 320P goes up on October 25](https://www.apoapenews.com/articles/tempus-he-ai-prescreening-panel-nsclc-12-biomarkers-esmo/), and its specificity and per-marker figures decide whether the flag trims the sequencing queue or grows it [2]. Six days later, before the open on November 2, Tempus reports third-quarter results [1]. The half-metric cost nothing to publish; the other half has a date. ## Takeaway Tempus's H&E pre-screening panel topped 80% sensitivity on all 12 NSCLC biomarkers across 60,459 cases, but the release omits specificity and the biomarker names, the numbers that determine whether the flag saves labs money or funnels more confirmatory tests, which Tempus sells, into its own pipeline; the ESMO poster on October 25 and Q3 earnings on November 2 answer both questions. ## Sources 1. [Tempus AI via Business Wire, Tempus Presents Data Demonstrating AI-Enabled Pre-Screening Can Help Identify Patients for Biomarker Testing in NSCLC, 19 October 2026](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261019198806/en) 2. [APOAPE News, Tempus Says Its H&E Pre-Screening Panel Topped 80 Percent Sensitivity for All 12 NSCLC Biomarkers It Tested, 19 October 2026](https://www.apoapenews.com/articles/tempus-he-ai-prescreening-panel-nsclc-12-biomarkers-esmo/) 3. [Yahoo Finance, Tempus AI Inc. Q2 FY2026 earnings call transcript, 30 July 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/F3M.SG/earnings/F3M.SG-Q2-2026-earnings_call-660947.html) 4. [24/7 Wall St., Tempus AI Is Ripping 30% Higher This Week After Morgan Stanley Boosts Revenue Outlook, 17 September 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/09/17/tempus-ai-is-ripping-30-higher-this-week-after-morgan-stanley-boosts-revenue-outlook/) 5. [Tempus AI, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 21 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001717115) 6. [Wikipedia, Tempus AI, last edited 16 October 2026](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempus_AI) 7. [Imagene AI and Mindpeak via AZCentral press releases, Imagene AI and Mindpeak Collaborate to Bring AI-Powered NSCLC Biomarker Profiling into Digital Pathology Workflows, 19 October 2026](https://www.azcentral.com/press-release/story/139507/imagene-ai-and-mindpeak-collaborate-to-bring-ai-powered-nsclc-biomarker-profiling-into-digital-pathology-workflows/) --- Tempus AI tops 80% sensitivity on 12 lung biomarkers but withholds the specificity number — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/tempus-ai-tops-80-sensitivity-on-12-lung-biomarkers-but-withholds-the-specificity-number