Hycor Biomedical Gets Approval for Instant Drug Test

Hycor Biomedical Inc. said Wednesday that it has received approval from the U.S Food and Drug Administration for the second of five instant drug tests that it hopes to begin marketing this summer.

In March, the FDA approved Hycor’s “accupinch” urine test for cocaine, and now the federal agency has also approved a test for opiates such as heroin and morphine. Reg Jones, Hycor’s chief financial officer, said that tests for marijuana and PCP have been submitted to the FDA and that a test for methamphetamine will be submitted later this month.

Unlike conventional urinalysis tests, the Hycor test does not have to be sent to a clinical laboratory for processing; it can be administered on-site by untrained personnel. Jones said the results are as accurate as traditional drug screening methods, though more sophisticated confirmation tests are still necessary in many situations.

Hycor, which sells a variety of human diagnostic products, will not begin to market the tests until at least four of the five have been approved, Jones said. He expects that to happen by July.

Initially, the products will be targeted at the drug rehabilitation and parole and probation markets for use as a monitoring tool. The tests produce results in about 10 minutes.

“It won’t be used for pre-employment testing, where someone might be denied a job because of it,” Jones said.

In pre-employment drug screening, results that come up positive must be double-checked by laboratory confirmation tests, so there would be little advantage for employers to do initial screening on-site.

But private rehabilitation centers, Jones said, are interested in the Hycor product as a revenue-generating tool, because they can charge patients for each test. Tests will be sold by Hycor for $2 each, with a suggested retail price of $3. In most situations, several tests will be used at once to check for different drugs.

Jones pegged the potential market among drug rehabilitation and probation and parole customers at $65 million, and said Hycor hoped to sell $3.5 million worth by next year.