Intelligent Bio Solutions Inc., a medical technology company delivering intelligent, rapid, non-invasive testing solutions, has announced plans to add the potent synthetic opioid drug, fentanyl, and fentanyl-adulterated street drugs, to the panel of substances detected by its lab-based confirmation testing using fingertip sweat collected by its proprietary Intelligent Fingerprinting Drug Screening System.
According to CDC figures1, U.S. overdose deaths were at a run rate of over 100,000 for the 12 months ended November 2022, with 81.9% of these deaths involving at least one opioid. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is by far the most commonly involved opioid2. The company says it is combatting this healthcare crisis by expanding the capabilities of its lab-based confirmation testing service to detect fentanyl and its related analogues in samples collected by its fingerprint-based drug testing system.
“By seeking to add fentanyl and other fentanyl-adulterated street drugs to our fingerprint-based lab-based confirmation drug testing panel, we are furthering our commitment to equipping workplaces to better combat the opioid issue. Fentanyl, and fentanyl-adulterated street drugs such as Tranq, continue to fuel an opioid crisis that the U.S. Joint Economic Committee estimates3 is costing the country nearly $1.5 trillion a year and causing tragic impacts to many lives. We believe making drug testing for fentanyl non-invasive, quick, and hygienic is an important step towards addressing this crisis,” said Harry Simeonidis, President and CEO of Intelligent Bio Solutions.
The unique, non-invasive Intelligent Fingerprinting Drug Screening System features a hygienic, non-biohazardous collection cartridge that collects ten fingerprint sweat samples in under a minute. Fingerprint testing provides a quick and dignified approach that is much more convenient than traditional urine or saliva drug testing methods. Picogram levels of chemical sensitivity will allow the presence of fentanyl or fentanyl-adulterated street drugs to be identified by laboratory tests using Liquid Chromatography with tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis.
“Fentanyl is estimated to be around 50 times more potent than heroin, and detection can be challenging given that just 2mg of fentanyl is considered to be a fatal dose by the DEA4. Intelligent Fingerprinting’s proprietary testing approach features an advanced sample collection cartridge technology that is suitable for confirming the presence of fentanyl and street drugs through back-to-the-lab LC-MS/MS tests. This is an area that we believe could represent a significant market opportunity for INBS, both in the US and other international markets,” adds Simeonidis.
In addition to its portability and ease-of-use, the non-invasive nature of the Intelligent Fingerprinting Drug Screening System can also help provide early intelligence on cause of death, with fingerprint test samples providing evidence of recent use of opiates, methamphetamine, cocaine and cannabis.
References
1 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm
2 https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/fatal/dashboard/index.html
4 https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/DEA_Fact_Sheet-Counterfeit_Pills.pdf
