Chemical verification and identification company Centice Corporation has raised $1 million in debt financing, according to securities filings.
Morrisville-based Centice developed technology to identify drugs. The company’s devices were originally intended for use in pharmacies as a way to reduce prescription errors – the devices verified that the pills in a bottle matched the prescription for the patient. Those devices worked but pharmacy adoption was slow.
In the last two years, Centice has broadened its scope to include law enforcement. Police and narcotics officials can use Centice devices to identify controlled prescription drugs and illegal narcotics. Centice this year released a mobile narcotics identification system that law enforcement can use in the field.
Last month, Centice announced new features for the device including a database of more than 100 illegal cutting agents used to dilute illegal narcotics.
Centice is led by CEO Prasant Potuluri, a co-founder of the company. Centice launched in 2004 based on technology originally developed at Duke University, where Potuluri developed the computational sensor technology that serves as the platform for Centice devices. The technology uses Raman spectroscopy, a technique of identifying a chemical sample by reading its unique light signature.
Centice has raised more than $25 million from venture capital investors The Aurora Funds, Novak Biddle Venture Partners, S-Group Direct Investments, Fulcrum Financial Group and Innovation Ventures.
