Concateno at MEDICA: drugs and alcohol abuse – better tests, better treatment

Concateno marks MEDICA’s 40th anniversary with Innovations Platform
MEDICA, Hall 1 CO4, Messe-Dusseldorf (November 18-21 2009)
Concateno, Europe’s leading provider of drug and alcohol test services, is hosting an Innovations Platform at MEDICA, the international medical diagnostics trade fair, to showcase its new products and leading-edge solutions from its R&D programme.

“Concateno has a strong track record of continuous innovation, developing services and products that support and assist occupational health and safety, medical, and child protection professionals. At MEDICA we’ll be sharing a few of the forthcoming innovations that will significantly help these customers work more effectively,” said Concateno’s marketing spokesperson.
Current and upcoming innovations include:

•       Concateno Collection Device – a new, faster, simpler to use oral fluids collector to be introduced in spring 2010 to succeed the current million-selling Cozart® Oral Swab collector

•       Steroids to be added to the range of drugs detectable in hair – an estimated 170,000 people have used steroids in the UK and misuse of this substance is a worldwide issue

•       Benzene exposure test collection kit box to enable the shipping and oil industries to easily monitor the health and safety of crew and staff

Celebrating a decade of innovation
“This is the 40th year of MEDICA, and to mark this, the Innovations Platform will celebrate Concateno’s own achievements over the last decade,” said Concateno’s spokesperson. “This isn’t just about what we make and sell; it’s about the role that effective, reliable drug testing plays in making a real difference to society. Concateno’s test services have helped hundreds of thousands of people gain access to treatment for their drug addiction, helped transport and construction industries maintain their safety records, and assisted family courts in making crucial decisions for children’s protection.”

Concateno’s decade of innovation includes:

•       Mobile point-of-care oral fluids drug testing systems – the Cozart® Rapiscan® and the Cozart® DDS®
Designed and manufactured in-house, these hugely successful devices are used to carry out roadside drug testing and government drug intervention and treatment programmes in Europe and Australia

•       Buprenorphine and adulterant testing in urinalysis
Concateno’s subsidiary Medscreen developed an assay to screen and confirm for buprenorphine as part of the UK’s mandatory drug testing programme in prisons. In addition a special test enables the detection of adulterants that are used to sanitise water

•       Alcohol detection in hair
Concateno’s TrichoTest® is currently the only UK laboratory test with accreditation for detecting chronic alcohol misuse in hair. Thousands of hair samples have been analysed since the service was introduced

•       The Altrix Retriever® on-line laboratory results system
Enables healthcare professionals to access their service users’ results online, securely and quickly

•       Drug Screen Test Cross-reactivity Manual
A reference bible for drug and alcohol treatment and counselling professionals, which allows them to check whether any medicines, chemicals or foodstuffs could affect a drug test

MEDICA
Concateno and its clinical diagnostics manufacturer, Spinreact, will be at Hall1 stand CO4.