Philip Hand, a drug industry veteran with more than 20 years’ experience in medical diagnostics, has joined Intelligent Fingerprinting, the British company developing the world’s first fingerprint-based drug screening device, as a non-executive director.
A seasoned and highly successful business leader, Mr Hand is known for his success in bringing diagnostic screening products to market, particularly those in ‘point of care’ applications.
Mr Hand co-founded the medical diagnostics company Cozart Bioscience Limited which pioneered the development and manufacture of oral fluid (saliva) testing for drug screening, among other products.
Following the company’s AIM listing in 2004 he was its Chief Operating Officer until October 2007 when he was involved in the negotiation to sell the company to Concateno plc (now Alere Toxicology) for £65 million.
Mr Hand said: “I am delighted to join the board of Intelligent Fingerprinting at this exciting time as its revolutionary non-invasive drug testing device nears market readiness. There are obvious synergies with my previous experience and I’m looking forward to sharing my expertise with the team.”
Dr Jerry Walker, Chief Executive Officer, Intelligent Fingerprinting said: “We approached Phil because of his high profile, valuable experience and connections in the drug screening industry. He built up Cozart, a similar business to our own, with similar customers, so has experience of growing a drug-screening products company. He will provide valuable, relevant advice to the Board and management team.”
Intelligent Fingerprinting recently raised an investment of almost £3m from a group of private UK and US-based investors. The funding will be used to scale up the company’s production capabilities and finalise product development, accelerating the device’s introduction to the global market.
Mr Hand is also a Business Ambassador for the Meningitis Now charity; a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a keen and active sportsman.
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For media information please contact Jennifer Denby or Ellen Cave at Tribe PR: Email: Jennifer@tribepr.com or ellen@tribepr.com Tel: +44 (0)1603 417722
Notes to Editors:
About Intelligent Fingerprinting
Intelligent Fingerprinting is developing a revolutionary fingerprint-based portable drug testing device. The technology, which works by analysing the sweat from a fingerprint sample, will enable non-invasive, cost-effective screening for multiple drug groups in less than 10 minutes. The product is the first of its kind in the world and is expected to go into production in 2015.
The company’s ground-breaking technology detects drug use by analysing chemicals, known as metabolites, contained in the minute traces of sweat found in a fingerprint. (Metabolites are chemicals produced by the body as a result of normal metabolic processes.) The device looks for the presence of drug metabolites in the test subject’s fingerprint sweat sample and, if detected, identifies the type of drugs which have been ingested, inhaled or injected.
A version of the device will allow the capture of a detailed image of the test subject’s fingerprint. This image may be used to confirm personal identity in relation to the test result, ruling out false positives due to sample mix ups.
Intelligent Fingerprinting has attracted worldwide interest in its technology from a wide range of drug-screening markets including the criminal justice arena, drug rehabilitation centres, prisons and occupational health services. The technique has potential for many other uses including healthcare diagnostics and homeland security applications.
Since 2012 Intelligent Fingerprinting has raised £5.75m in funding from a consortium of private UK and US-based investors, as well as government funding for pilot studies within the UK’s National Health Service and forensics services.
Founded in 2007, Intelligent Fingerprinting is a spin-out company from the University of East Anglia (UEA). The company is based in Norwich, England and employs 15 people.
www.intelligentfingerprinting.com
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