Inverness Medical expands Drugs of Abuse range with Biosite

Following the successful launch of SureStep™, Inverness Medical has expanded its drugs of abuse range with the acquisition of Biosite. With 200 million¹ people worldwide aged 15-64 having used an illicit drug at least once, there is a real demand for effective rapid testing to provide accurate information for effective decision making. Inverness Medical offers one of the most comprehensive lines of drugs of abuse tests available today.

The Biosite portfolio contains two distinctly different forms of testing, specifically designed to cover a multitude of locations and situations. The Biosite Triage^® 8 test panel screens for up to eight classes of the most commonly abused drugs. It provides easy to interpret, visual results in 15 minutes and because of its flexibility is ideal for use in occupational health screening, criminal justice systems and situations where laboratory services may be unavailable. The Biosite Triage^® TOX Drug Screen (DS) Meter is a portable fluorometer which uses cartridges designed to perform specific diagnostic assays using patient samples. Triage^® Meter Platforms are used at over 6000 healthcare sites worldwide. Triage^® MeterPro is designed to provide diagnostic results quickly and easily, in a printed format and results are highlighted when they are above the cut-off. With the Triage Census software, the data can be automatically sent to a local computer and/or uploaded to a Laboratory Information System (LIS). Results are automatically displayed as ‘POS’ or ‘NEG’. The Triage TOX DS can be used at point of care to screen for 11 drugs and provides results in less than 15 minutes.

The acquisition of Biosite by Inverness Medical has combined two best-in-class organisations to create a real leader in point-of-care diagnostics. Triage 8 and Triage TOX DS join the SureStep™ Drug Screen Tests in the drugs of abuse test range from Inverness Medical. SureStep Drug Screen Tests feature single and multiple panel urine cassette tests which can test up to nine drugs of abuse simultaneously, using innovative lateral flow chromatographic immunoassay technology. The SureStep Drug Screen Tests deliver rapid, accurate and reliable results in urine samples in as little as 5 minutes.

With drug abuse continuing to be a major global problem, not only affecting the world’s health but also the economy of nations, Inverness Medical is responding to the demand for improved drugs of abuse testing in healthcare settings, social work, rehabilitation and the work place. Discover more by visiting us at The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists Conference (TIAFT) on the 5th June 2008.

^1. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Drug Report 2007