University of the Philippines portable drug test now available

MANILA, Philippines — A portable device that can detect designer drugs in urine samples is now available in the Philippines, awaiting private partners for commercial distribution.

The point-of-care testing (POCT) device developed by experts from the University of the Philippines (UP) can detect new psychoactive substances (NPS) or designer drugs such as ketamine, synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones.

“The ETox-NPS would be very useful because there is no POCT screening kit for NPS available for use in the Philippines,“ lead scientist and inventor Ailyn Yabes said.

“NPS is also not yet included in the drugs of abuse panel in the Philippines. Local screening tests are limited to illegal drugs such as amphetamine and cannabinoids,” she noted.

The ETox-NPS is an initial test and other methods will still be required to confirm NPS presence in urine.

UP experts also developed ETox-Phx, which can detect non-accidental poisoning from select pharmaceutical drugs such as paracetamol, isoniazid and salicylate.