RBAN - Roadside Breath Analysis of Narcotics

Drug-driving is a growing global problem, particularly in countries where enforcement is weak, or recreational use is legalised (30% of US, 32% of EU). In the UK there were 11,614 successful prosecutions for drug-driving in 2019, a 20% increase on the previous year. The most common narcotic is Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of cannabis.

Roadside use of the ubiquitous alcohol 'breathalyser' has played a significant part in changing attitudes and behaviours around drink driving.There is a need and a significant business opportunity to develop a product that can do the same for THC and a range of other narcotics for roadside, and industrial, insurance, prison and border force use. Current solutions rely on taking a significant sample of saliva from the suspect's mouth and carrying out spectroscopic analysis in a portable machine, or lateral flow analysis with colour changing strips. Collection of saliva is invasive, and testing typically takes between 5 and 20 minutes to complete, with results hard to interpret in the case of indicator strips.

The University of Manchester (UoM) has developed a highly selective and sensitive sensor using 'odorant binding proteins' (OBPs) similar to those found in animal smell sensory channels. In these sensors a significant change in the electronic characteristics is detectable on the binding of very small amounts of the 'target' molecule. Deposition of a range of OBPs on parallel devices can produce a unique 'fingerprint' for discrimination in a noisy environment.

Epinal Ltd is a recent startup and has been working with UoM in the past 18 months to demonstrate a route from the academic lab to a commercial device. This project aims to build on the current work and de-risk the route to market by demonstrating a narcotic breath detection system which can give results in a short (<2mins) time, with a realistic supply chain and manufacturing plan in the UK.