Alere: FDA Clears Immunalysis' SEFRIA Fentanyl Urine Drug Screening Test

(RTTNews) - Alere Inc. (ALR) announced Monday that its division Immunalysis Corp.'s SEFRIA Fentanyl Urine Enzyme Immunoassay has been granted 510(k) clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the qualitative detection of fentanyl in urine.

The SEFRIA Fentanyl Urine Enzyme Immunoassay detects the presence of fentanyl in urine with a cutoff of 1 ng/mL. It is the first ever 510(k) cleared fentanyl enzyme immunoassay and is the first analyte utilizing Immunalysis' proprietary SEFRIA technology, the company noted.

Previously, fentanyl immunoassay tests were only available for forensic testing. With the clearance of the SEFRIA Fentanyl Urine Enzyme Immunoassay, fentanyl drug screening is now available for Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments or CLIA certified reference laboratories, hospitals, physician offices and other healthcare settings that perform moderate complexity testing.

The illegal use of fentanyl is a large part of the U.S. opioid abuse epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, death rates from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl increased by 72.2 percent from 2014 to 2015, due in part to its low cost and high potency, which can be up to 50 times greater than heroin and 100 times greater than morphine.

Drug overdoses associated with fentanyl are often linked to unintentional ingestion when fentanyl is laced in street-sold heroin or cocaine, which significantly amplifies its potency.

Kathy Miller, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Immunalysis, said, "The availability of an FDA-cleared fentanyl immunoassay enables more reference and hospital laboratories to conduct precise qualitative screening, which is a key strategy in stemming the alarming increase in misuse and abuse of fentanyl. The SEFRIA fentanyl urine drug screening test rounds out our offering of technologically advanced assays for detecting prescription and illegal drugs of abuse by providing clinicians and toxicologists with a relevant menu of FDA-cleared opiate and opioid tests."