History of UR Code

In the late 1990s European drug treatment institutions asked laboratories for help with one of the biggest issues in urine drug testing: sample integrity. Even under observation, manipulation was still taking place and posed a risk to the treatment outcome and the well-being of patients.

Laboratory Director Dr. Ruprecht Keller developed the idea to use a “marker” substance that internally “bar codes” urine. The concept of UR Code was born.

The list of requirements for creating such a substance was long: For patient safety, it had to be an inactive ingredient cleared for use in humans and without side effects. To be able to function as a marker, it cannot be found naturally in urine and it has to offer the possibility to create a variety of distinguishable markers.

After intense research and testing they found that polyethylene glycols were the perfect substance.

Polyethylene glycols are on the FDA list of inactive ingredients. They do not have side effects and are completely safe. They are not naturally found in urine and they have different molecular weights that enable the composition of over 1,000 different marker types.

Within several years, the procedure was fully developed, and patented in 32 countries around the world. Commercialization began in Europe in 2006 but the product was subsequently introduced in many other European countries.

UR Code is a well-known and established test in the drug testing field and not only used in treatment facilities, but also in the highly regulated correction system. For many of these clients, the detection of drug abuse increased by over 20%.