Cannabix Technologies (BLO.C), a Canadian-based company focused on developing tools for law enforcement and the workplace to detect THC in the breath, announced today that it had developed a contactless alcohol breathalyzer for workplaces and vehicles.
The company’s engineers developed a suite of contactless alcohol breathalyzer (CAB) offerings which include a wall-mounted and in-vehicle (behind the steering column) versions.
Cannabix worked from its experience in breath testing and breath capture technology to create its CAB prototypes. A video has been posted on the company’s website spotlighting its CAB technology and it is currently seeking out partners to commercialize its CAB technology.
In 2010, impaired-related driving accidents cost Canadians $20.62 billion resulting in 1,082 fatalities and 63,821 injuries in 182,911 crashes.
If you’re caught driving impaired in the Province of BC, you could be subject to:
- Driving suspensions from 24 hours to 90 days
- Vehicle impoundment
- From $600 up to $4,060 in fines
- Jail time
- Mandatory rehabilitation
- Installation of ignition interlock in your vehicle
These penalties all occur once the offense has been committed and, in many cases, after the accident has occurred. Therefore, it is prudent to develop peremptory measures to prevent the act before it starts.
Consumer breathalyzers cannot bridge this gap as they are at best a recommendation against committing an impaired act, directly wiring a device into a vehicle that would prevent it from being operated by an impaired individual is a far more effective solution.
Workplace monitors would be able to alert employers or lock out activity of any device or vehicle before the impaired individual is able to do any damage.
The global breath analyzer market was valued at $2.38 billion USD in 2021 and is expected to grow at a 15.4% CAGR until 2030.
Back in September the National Transportation Safety Board issued a recommendation that all new vehicles be equipped with a technology that would prevent an alcohol impaired individual from driving.
Volvo is one of the major auto manufacturers experimenting with offering alcohol-detection systems as optional equipment.
Cannabix pointed out in its news release that even though it had achieved proof-of-concept prototype for CAB, the testing method and device are still in the preapproval stage and therefore the company is not currently making any express or implied claims that the technology will proceed to commercial use.
In recent news, the company announced it would participate in a mid-October southern US study to test a supplemental version of its FAIMS technology for detection of THC and related analytes in human breath.
Cannabix reported $7.88 million CAD in cash and cash equivalents as of July 31, 2022, with no revenue for the three months ending on July 31, 2022, for a net loss of $555,847 in the quarter. The question is when will Cannabix evolve from the R&D stage and begin the process of securing revenue. Perhaps this move to alcohol breath detection may provide a shorter route to commercialization.
Currently the company trades at $0.65 per share for a market cap of $74.19 million.
