Intelligent Fingerprinting

About Intelligent Fingerprinting

Intelligent Fingerprinting provides a non-invasive drug testing system that analyzes sweat from a fingerprint to detect recent drug use. The company was founded in 2007 by Professor David Russell, a chemistry professor at the University of East Anglia (UEA), based on his research into detecting drugs and their metabolites in sweat. The technology originated as a spin-out from the university. In October 2022, the company was acquired by Intelligent Bio Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: INBS) and now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

The core of the business is a portable drug screening system comprising single-use, tamper-proof cartridges for sample collection and a portable reader for analysis. The process involves collecting a fingerprint sweat sample, which takes a few seconds, and then the reader analyzes the cartridge, providing results for multiple drugs in under 10 minutes. This system is designed to identify drug use within a 16-24 hour window, focusing on fitness for duty rather than historical use. The technology uses lateral flow assay technology and fluorescence-labelled antibodies to detect specific drug metabolites. For non-negative results, the company offers a laboratory confirmation service that uses liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) for definitive analysis.

Intelligent Fingerprinting primarily serves safety-critical industries such as construction, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and mining. It also has applications in criminal justice, drug rehabilitation, and for coroners' services. The business model centers on selling the portable readers and the disposable, single-use cartridges. This approach allows clients to bring testing in-house, which can reduce costs compared to traditional methods like urine or saliva tests. The company has an active customer base of over 400 organizations in more than 20 countries.