Drug Control Centre (DCC)
The Drug Control Centre (DCC) is located on the Waterloo Campus in the Franklin Wilkins Building (FWB) of King’s College London. The DCC has been located at these premises since September 1999. The Drug Control Centre (DCC) is an integral part of King’s Forensics with internationally recognised expertise in analytical science. Staff of the DCC regularly publish in eminent peer reviewed scientific journals and provide expert testimonials as required. It is the only World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory in the UK. The DCC plays a pivotal role in the national sports testing programme working closely with the national anti-doping organisation UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), a public body of the government Department for Culture, Media, and Sport.
The Centre is rigorously monitored by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the International Standards for Laboratories (ISL). The ISL specifies technical requirements for the journey of a sample through the laboratory from receipt to post-analysis storage. Reporting of analytical results must be meticulous and defensible. The ISL is designed to ensure that sports competitors do not evade detection by manipulation or falsification of their samples and to safeguard the production of valid test results. The Centre is unable to accept samples from the public or from individual Athletes on a private basis or from organisations representing individuals for sports testing purposes.
The DCC analyses between 10,000 and 12, 500 biological samples a year for drugs banned on the WADA Prohibited List. Of these approximately 0.7-0.9 % are reported as Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF), that is the identification of a prohibited substance or method in a sample provided by a professional sportsperson).
The Drug Control Centre achieved accreditation to the international quality standard, ISO/IEC 17025 (and predecessor standard, ISO Guide 25) by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) in 1997 and has maintained continuous accreditation to this date. Under the quality system required by ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 the personnel at the laboratory are carefully trained and certified in all their areas of work. Instruments and laboratory equipment are accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 standard. This accreditation gives an independent third-party assurance that a high standard of quality control is maintained in relation to the testing procedures of the Centre. The Centre is accredited to perform validation and testing of human biological matrices as well as vials and other artefacts for anabolic steroids and other controlled and illicit substances specifically for sports testing but also for forensic and clinical testing if appropriate.
The DCC is IEC/ISO 17025 accredited by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) across a wide range of sports, as a testing laboratory, analysing both domestic and international athletes in accordance with WADA's Prohibited List of substances. The DCC has a long-standing history of being at the forefront of advances in anti-doping science and protecting both the integrity of sport and the health of athletes. In 2010, the DCC reported the world’s first ever human growth hormone (hGH) AAF, using the hGH isoform test. This hormone is used by some athletes in combination with either anabolic steroids to increase muscle mass or erythropoietin (EPO) to increase aerobic power.
In 2020 the DCC was appointed as a WADA accredited Athlete Passport Management Unit (APMU), one of only 16 globally. This unit is responsible for the longitudinal monitoring of athletes using haematological biomarkers such as haemoglobin and endogenous steroid markers (steroid profile) such as testosterone. In 2024, the DCC began monitoring biomarkers that regulate endocrine function with a focus on growth hormone-related pathways.
The DCC also manages a programme for the long-term storage of samples which can then be retrospectively analysed for substances that were not in the Prohibited List when the sample was collected. In 2021 the DCC detected the prohibited Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide-6 (‘GHRP-6’) and its metabolite GHRP-6 (2-5) free acid in an athlete through retrospective testing of stored samples.
Knowledge sharing within the anti-doping community is an important way to share good practice and keep up to date with the latest techniques. During 2024 Senior Analysts from the Drug Control Centre supported the testing programme for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games whilst in 2026 the Drug Control Centre will support UKAD in delivering the testing programme for the European Athletics Championships.
Analytical progress is an important facet of what we do and currently work is ongoing to develop our portfolio of methods for drug detection in dried blood spots. In 2026 we have reported our first AAF in a dried blood spot.
Please see our recently launched MOOC for more information on doping in sport.
The DCC also provides an analytical service for Testing Authorities such as the International Testing Agency (ITA) a variety of different professional bodies, sports organisations, national anti-doping agencies, sports federations and associations who are compliant with the WADA code and recognised by the Olympic Federation and International Olympic Committee or the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF).
The Centre will also accept samples from the Police, Border Force (Home Office), Coroners, Pathologists, Solicitors, Doctors/Physicians, Investigative Journalists, GMC, GDC, Nursing & Midwifery Council, The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), General Osteopathic Council (GOsC), the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), local authorities, forensic providers, prisons, and hospitals to help with clinical, forensic, or investigative cases involving a requirement for toxicological analysis.
The Centre supports programmes of research that seek to improve the detection of the use of banned substances according to the WADA Prohibited List.