908 Devices Eyes Growth in Handheld Drug and Chemical Detection Market

908 Devices is sharpening its focus on handheld chemical and drug detection systems for public safety, defense and law enforcement following the divestiture of its bioprocessing and biopharma business line, executives said during a Canaccord Genuity discussion. Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Kevin Knopp said the company was founded in 2012 to bring laboratory-grade mass spectrometry into portable, battery-powered devices that can provide answers at the point of need. While the company expanded into life sciences around its 2020 IPO, it has since returned to its original focus on chemical detection, including synthetic opioids, toxic industrial chemicals and chemical threats. Knopp said law-enforcement forensic laboratories can face backlogs of six to nine months, delaying drug-case processing. He said 908 Devices’ products can provide presumptive results in roughly 30 seconds in certain applications, allowing agencies to use results for probable cause or faster case processing where approved by state authorities. The company works with law-enforcement, corrections, fire and hazardous-materials customers globally. Knopp cited hazmat situations involving leaking tanks as an example where rapid field identification and quantification of an unknown gas can help agencies assess risks to personnel and communities. The company’s product line spans several technologies and use cases: MX908: The company’s flagship mass spectrometry device, with approximately 3,000 units in the field. It is used for detecting synthetic opioids, chemical weapons, nontraditional chemical agents and other threats. VipIR: A bulk chemical identification product combining FTIR and Raman technologies with algorithms. Knopp said it can measure 38,000 analytes and is aimed at customs agencies, ports of entry and hazmat teams. NIRLab: A recently acquired handheld bulk-identification device designed for routine police drug screening. Users can touch the device to pills or substances, and it can identify about 400 drug substances in seconds, according to Knopp. Knopp said NIRLab originated at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and has been validated through scientific publications and use in Europe. He said the acquisition gives 908 Devices an opportunity to bring the product into the U.S. market through its existing public-safety sales organization. The company estimates the directly addressed opportunity for NIRLab at approximately $200 million within a broader $1.5 billion to $2 billion market for detection equipment. Knopp also pointed to regulatory changes in Colorado and roughly seven other states affecting the use of colorimetric drug-test kits for arrest decisions. He said the cloud-connected, subscription-based NIRLab system may help agencies maintain audit