Licensees sought for breath analyser

Licensing opportunity

Zenics Medical, a UK medical device company, is looking for distributors for its new hand-held breath analyser, which is designed to assess and help ensure compliance in people receiving drug treatment for alcohol addiction.

The device, called Zenalyser, is designed to ensure alcoholics are taking the drug disulfiram as prescribed. Disulfiram works by making alcohol extremely unpleasant and reinforces its avoidance, but must be taken daily. One study found that 80 per cent of those apparently on disulfiram therapy had stopped taking it and resumed drinking.

Zenalyser measures breakdown products of disulfiram by means of a breath test, showing instantly whether or not the individual is either taking the daily dose. 

Richard Faulder, Zenics’ managing director, said the launch of Zenalyser is major step forward in the potential treatment programmes available for alcoholics. “For the first time, those individuals are able to demonstrate their compliance without the need for supervised medication.”

Zenics Medical has carried out clinical studies in Edinburgh and Shrewsbury in the UK and is in the early stages of a three-centre study with the UK’s Probation Service. The company is currently seeking licensing or distribution partners for Zenalyser.