“We have an opportunity to replace that with a better version,” said Lam — one that detects five common lacing chemicals simultaneously: fentanyl, methamphetamine, benzodiazepine, xylazine, and methadone.

The company’s innovation is “a mix of physical and chemical,” said Sparks: “There’s a zone specifically designed for each agent, and we’re using novel treatments and materials on the strip to allow capillary action to occur without incurring cross-reactivity.”