AIBioTech Extends Drug Assay Platform to “Energy Supplements”

Products may contain banned substances

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Products labeled as “Energy Supplements” are widely sold in convenience stores, over the internet, and in stores that sell nutritional supplements. They are intended to “boost your energy levels” or to help control your diet allowing you to lose weight, but Energy Supplements that are commonly for sale contain both chemicals and herbal extracts. Some chemicals, such as DMAA, PEA, or ephedrine, and extracts of plants such as kratom, yohimbine, or kava have been challenged by the FDA as being unsafe. In August, 2012, The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency ruled DMAA supplements as unlicensed medicinal products and recommended that they be removed from the U.K. market, and the Food Standards of Australia and New Zealand issued a similar warning in June 2012, encouraging consumers who have purchased products containing DMAA to discard them. In 2004, the FDA created a ban on ephedrine alkaloids that are marketed for reasons other than asthma, colds, allergies, other disease, or traditional Asian use. Finally, the plants kava and kratom are listed by the Drug Enforcement Agency as sources of Drugs and Chemicals of Concern.

“We have all the instruments and infrastructure necessary to support all aspects of current life sciences research, which places AIBioTech in the very top tier of CROs.”

AIBioTech just recently announced implementation of a highly sophisticated analytical platform for detection and identification of certain banned chemical substances, including cannabinoid mimetics and stimulants. We are pleased to announce that our testing platform has now been extended to include analysis of Energy Supplements for the presence of their constituent chemicals. Surprisingly, in tests done at AIBioTech, Energy Supplements were found to contain significant levels of synthetic cannabinoids as well as amphetamine-like stimulants, including JWH 018 and α-PVP. The Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 (SB 3187) specifically places “cannabimimetic agents” and “other drugs” into the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). These compounds were placed into the CSA because they present an “imminent hazard to the public safety.” As a result of this act and numerous individual State legislations, possession with the intent to distribute these “misbranded drugs or synthetic drug products” may be a felony, and subject to criminal, civil, or administrative penalties. Clearly, sale or possession of Energy Supplements containing these banned substances may have serious unintended consequences.

The methods developed at AIBioTech are sensitive to extremely low levels of the different compounds found in Energy Supplements and are rapid enough for us to provide results on the same day as the sample is received. For the most part, our “Drug Testing Platform” is used by manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors to confirm the identity of the ingredients of their products, or to determine whether the product contains banned substances, and thus is to be precluded from sale to the general public.

“The rapid expansion of our Drug Analysis Platform demonstrates the broad breadth of expertise resident in our staff scientists, and shows once again how AIBioTech can rapidly respond to issues of National concern,” commented Dr. Robert B. Harris, President and CSO of AIBioTech. “We have all the instruments and infrastructure necessary to support all aspects of current life sciences research, which places AIBioTech in the very top tier of CROs.”

About AIBioTech LLC

AIBioTech is a comprehensive Contract Research Organization which provides integrated research and development sciences and clinical testing services to physicians and life sciences investigators in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and in several different government agencies. Core laboratory services include bioanalytical and bioorganic chemistries, biochemistry, immunochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, virology, and comprehensive DNA sequence analysis. AIBioTech provides consultation on experimental design and offers services under GLP and non-GLP compliance. These services are offered individually or can be integrated to support product development from discovery to market with full Regulatory Support.