ABMC develops, manufactures and markets immunoassay diagnostic test kits, including point-of-collection tests for drugs of abuse.

It is estimated that 6.9 percent of adults who are employed full-time are current illicit drug users, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and 9.1 percent of those employed part-time are illicit drug users.

Additionally, the department found employed drug abusers cost their employers approximately twice as much in medical and worker compensation claims as their drug-free coworkers. This is why American Bio Medica Corp. (ABMC) believes in working closely with its customers to help ensure they maintain drug-free workplaces.

"Our customers want better and better quality in our drug testing products, and there is definitely more interest in workplaces that have a zero tolerance for drugs of abuse," says Stan Cipkowski, CEO. "This is why we are always working on new products and improving our existing line. For example, the federal guidelines for cocaine allow workers to have 300 nanograms of cocaine per milliliter of urine. But we developed a new product that cut that in half - only allowing 150 nanograms of cocaine. The FDA approved our product and now our customers can have stricter standards in their workplaces."

ABMC develops, manufactures and markets immunoassay diagnostic test kits, including point-of-collection tests for drugs of abuse. Based in Kinderhook, N.Y., the publicly traded biotechnology firm has a worldwide distribution network that serves the workplace, government, corrections, clinical and educational markets. The company also provides contract manufacturing services.

Rapid Drug Screen, Rapid One, Rapid TEC and RDS InCup test for the presence or absence of drugs of abuse in urine. OralStat tests for the presence of drugs of abuse in oral fluids. Rapid Reader, the company explains, is a compact, portable device that, when connected to any computer, interprets the results of an ABMC drug screen. It then sends the results to a data management system, enabling the test administrators to easily manage their drug-testing programs.

"We have more than 300 SKUs right now," Cipkowski says. "We keep the top-20 products on our shelves at all times and the top-100 products can be delivered in two to three days. We are focused on excellence in everything we do. We have to manage the flow of information between our facilities and our customers and manage quality in every step of the long process of developing the drug tests.

"We manufacture tests for the detection of 15 different drugs of abuse - being the most accurate and sensitive drug test on the market is our No. 1 priority. In addition, we guarantee that our products have a two-year shelf life, so stability is important in that aspect. We have quality control points to ensure everything remains in check."

New Products, Partners
The company's recently FDA-cleared Rapid TOX is the "most exciting" product ABMC is bringing to market right now, Cipkowski notes. This isn't a completely new technology, he explains, but by reworking older technology, the company has made improvements in the urine-test product.

"This product has huge improvements in stability and sensitivity," he says. "The advancements in this technology have allowed us to form relationships with some major strategic partners, which is important to our growth.

"In the realm of saliva diagnostics, we have made breakthrough after breakthrough," he adds. "OralStat is our existing product in this area, but we will be introducing a new product in this line in 2007."

By bringing new products to market and forming more relationships with strategic partners, Cipkowski expects ABMC to see 50 percent sales growth in 2007. He says the company's relationships will allow its products to be used in more markets, which will enable ABMC to provide maximum returns to its shareholders.

"We provide the highest-quality product in our industry," he says. "We are the gold standard in urine and saliva testing and we have our own sales force of 18 representatives that gets our quality message out. We will have huge growth in 2007 because of the new products and new strategic relationships."