The achievements and problems of the production of generic drug substances for pharmaceutical industry

Russian Chemical Bulletin - The key achievements, problems, and prospects of the pharmaceutical industry in the Russian Federation concerning the development, synthesis, and purification of active...     

Study on polymerization of the pharmaceutical substances isohexenylnaphthazarins

Polymerization of naturally occurring isohexenylnaphthazarins (IHN), such as alkannin, shikonin (A/S) and their derivatives, which are potent pharmaceutical substances, significantly affects their use in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and as food colorants, because it leads to reduction of the lustre of their red coloration, a decrease in their solubility and reduces the active monomeric IHN derivatives. In the present study, the influence of several crucial variables (processing and storage) was experimentally investigated on IHN polymerization by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). Temperature and solvent polarity increased significantly the concentration of hydroxynaphthoquinone (HNQ) polymers, while air and light exposure conditions did not significantly affect IHN polymerization. Low temperatures are proposed for all processes of industrial production of pharmaceutical preparations containing IHN and HNQ. An optimization of the industrial conditions used for the preparation of pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations containing IHN, maximizing the active monomeric IHN fraction, was performed.     

DSC studies on the polymorphism and pseudopolymorphism of pharmaceutical substances

A complex system including thermoanalytical methods, infrared spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction for studying physico-chemical behaviour of binary mixtures is described. This system has been tested by investigating binary mixtures of amphetamine hydrochloride salts.These studies have proved that among the selected compounds the primary and secondary amine hydrochloride salts exhibit conglomerate forming tendency, while the tertiary amine hydrochloride salts form molecular compounds (racemates). For thep-fluoro amphetamine hydrochloride the existence of two polymorphic modifications has been detected.The authors are grateful to D. Kozma (Department of Organic Chemical Technology) for the thermoanalytical data of compound III, to Prof. E. Fogassy for the fruitful discussion.     

Study on the enantiomeric ratio of the pharmaceutical substances alkannin and shikonin

The chiral pair alkannin and shikonin (A/S) are potent pharmaceutical substances with a wide spectrum of biological activity; their enantiomeric ratio does not influence the major biological activity studied hitherto. Nevertheless, in pharmaceutical development and approval of chiral drugs from the Health and Regulatory Authorities, full documentation of methods of analysis of enantiomeric drugs, is required in order to evaluate the enantiomeric purity of starting materials and final products and to control the stability of enantiomers in pharmaceutical formulations under several experimental conditions. In the present study, the enantiomeric ratio of A/S was determined in several commercial samples of alkannin and shikonin and also the proportion of A/S derivatives in several Alkanna root samples, which are all used as active ingredients in pharmaceuticals. Light and air proved not to influence the enantiomeric ratio of A/S on a shikonin commercial sample, and temperature also did not alter the A/S ratio on shikonin and alkannin commercial samples. Microencapsulation of alkannin and shikonin commercial samples in ethylcellulose microspheres and also molecular inclusion of a shikonin commercial sample in beta-hydroxypropyl-cyclodextrin, which are used as drug delivery systems, did not alter the A/S enantiomeric ratio.     

Capillary electrophoretic studies on the photogenotoxic potential of pharmaceutical substances

Drug-induced phototoxic skin responses, including photoirritation, photoallergy and photogenotoxicity, are identified as adverse reactions. In this study, we attempted to develop effective analytical tools to predict the photogenotoxic potential of pharmaceutical substances with the use of pBR322 DNA, a plasmid DNA. pBR322 DNA was irradiated with simulated solar light in the presence of photosensitizers, and its structural conversion was assessed by agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE). The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from photoirradiated photosensitizers was also assessed by spectrophotometrical determination. Concomitant ultraviolet (UV) exposure of pBR322 DNA and photosensitizers resulted in significant oxidative damage to the DNA, as evidenced by AGE, TEM and CGE data, indicating a structural transition from supercoiled form to open circular form. Photosensitizer-induced DNA damage was attenuated by the addition of radical scavengers, especially sodium azide, a typical scavenger of singlet oxygen (1 O2), and enhanced by the addition of deuterium water, an enhancer of the life time of 1 O2. These data, taken together with the results of the ROS assay, suggest that singlet oxygen might act as a major toxic species in quinine-induced photogenotoxicity. The structural analysis of plasmid DNA by CGE after exposure to UVA/B in the presence of photosensitizers could be automated, allowing easy, fast and highly reliable prediction for the photogenotoxic potential of a large number of drug candidates.     

TLC-screening of important pharmaceutical substances using fluorescence detection

Summary Observation of fluorescence reactions on TLC plates is a valuable additional tool within the scope of screening procedures for many toxicologically relevant substances commonly encountered in clinical- and forensic-toxicological analysis. The reactions are based on native fluorescence without any treatment and on reactions obtained with an approved derivatization procedure. Due to the enormous sensitivity of the fluorescence detection, the method is also applicable to very low concentrations and small amounts of biological materials. The procedures described in this article have proven their high pragmatic usefulness in many practical cases.Dedicated to Professor Dr. Wilhelm Fresenius on the occasion of his 80th birthday     

Polymers for the enhancement of solubility of pharmaceutical substances in solid drug formulations

This review presents the survey of basic properties of polymers. As potential solubilizers for pharmaceutical formulations with low solubility in water, diverse polymeric excipients containing various functional groups are considered.     

Electron and light microscopical investigation of defect structures in mesophases of pharmaceutical substances

 Transmission electron microscopy of freeze fractured and replicated samples (TEM) and polarizing light microscopy (PLM) are used to investigate the defect structures of the thermotropic and lyotropic mesophases of the non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug fenoprofen sodium and of the thermotropic mesophase of the nonionic surfactant sucrose oleate (O1570). All mesophases have a layered, smectic structure. The thermotropic liquid crystal of feno-profen sodium is an interdigitated smectic A phase (smectic Ad) having the highest viscosity of the investigated samples. The thermotropic mesophase of the sugar ester is also of the type smectic A, likely to be of subtype smectic A2 (bilayered smectic structure). The lyotropic mesophase is of lamellar liquid crystalline nature and has a much lower viscosity than the thermotropic mesophases. In the PLM the lyotropic fenoprofen mesophase has a strong tendency to form a pseudoisotropic texture, indicating a strong tendency to form undisturbed layered structures. Other textures exhibited in the PLM are fan-shaped texture and maltese-cross texture. Confocal domains, cylinders, pits and peaks as well as screw dislocations are found in great number in the TEM. However, no greater regions of undisturbed lamellar arrangement in the lyotropic mesophase could be detected. The only texture of the thermotropic fenoprofen mesophase visible in the PLM is the fan-shaped texture, indicating confocal domains as predominant structural elements. However, no confocal domains (tori or Dupin cyclides) are found in the TEM. In the PLM the sugar–ester mesophase exhibited a fan-shaped texture, maltese crosses and oily streaks as dominant textures. In the TEM only a few +π and −π disclinations and imperfect confocal domains could be detected. The discrepancies in the appearance of defect structures and textures between the mesophases as well as the discrepancies in the findings in the PLM and in the TEM investigations are caused by the different sample preparation and the different viscosities of the mesophases. Received: 28 May 1997 Accepted: 2 September 1997     

A systematic study of insoluble substances : Time and temperature factors in the production of insoluble substances

It has been shown that substances which become insoluble on heating begin to change into the insoluble form after passing beyond a certain range of temperature which is characteristic for each substance. Beyond this range the percentage of insoluble portion formed increases both with time and temperature. At temperatures much bcyond the critical range the change into the insoluble form is very rapid     

Use of isothermal microcalorimetry in pharmaceutical preformulation studies

Excipient compatibility of a new chemical entity was assessed using an isothermal microcalorimeter. Mixtures of an active pharmaceutical ingredient with a primary amine group and excipients were prepared in a 1:1 ratio and compatibility monitored by exposing to 50, 60 and 70°C in presence of 200 mL of water. The new chemical entity, a primary amine, reacted with reducing sugars such as lactose and resulted in a brown discoloration. This reaction is the Maillard type condensation reaction between amines and reducing sugars. The rate of reaction was dependent on the temperature with rapid degradation at higher temperatures. No other incompatibility was apparent between the primary amine and other excipients This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Use of DSC robotic systems in pharmaceutical analysis

DSC is extremely valuable for analysis of pharmaceuticals. The introduction of robotic systems with data acquisition and processing makes it very competitive to other methods in the field of purity determination or solid state characterization of raw materials. Some applications are also possible to dosage forms. Applications of DSC robotics with statistical results are given.

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Zusammenfassung Zur Analyse von Arzneimitteln ist DSC außerst wertvoll. Die Einführung von Robotersystemen mit Datenaquisition und -aufarbeitung macht dieses Verfahren auf dem Gebiet der Reinheitsuntersuchung und Feststoffcharakterisierung der Rohmaterialien konkurrenzfähig im. Vergleich zu anderen Methoden. Einige Varianten lassen sich auch auf fertige Präparate anwenden. Es wird die Anwendung von computerisierten DSC-Systemen einschließlich statistischen Ergebnissen gegeben.

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Many thanks to Mrs C. Goldbronn and Mr P. Piechon for their technical assistance.     

Use of ultra-performance liquid chromatography in pharmaceutical development

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) has been investigated as an alternative to HPLC for the analysis of pharmaceutical development compounds. We present data on three compounds showing that significant reductions in separation time can be achieved without compromising the separation quality. Results from precision and comparative studies indicate that UPLC is a suitable technique for routine pharmaceutical analysis.     

Ruggedness testing of gas chromatographic method for residual solvents in pharmaceutical substances

Summary Ruggedness testing is performed on a gas chromatographic method for the quantitative determination of residual solvents in steroids. Eight experimental variables or factors which were expected to influence the quantitative results were selected. These factors were divided into two independent groups, i.e. four factors related to the injection process and four factors related to separation and detection. In order to determine interaction between factors and quadratic effects, a central composite design was selected for the set-up of the experiments. Because in the method an internal standard is used, relative peak area was used as response. A deviation of up to 2.5% per factor for the quantitative results was regarded as acceptable. Other responses studied are related to the system suitability. Observed main, quadratic and interaction effects were translated into rugged intervals of the experimental variables by graphical presentation. It was found that besides main effects significant interaction effects were present, for example between the temperature of the injector and the split-flow. Interaction effects can easily result in the reduction of the rugged intervals by a factor of 2. The calculated rugged intervals were compared with the precision of the instrument or factor settings in order to estimate the ruggedness of the factors. Eventually, the maximum effect of the variation in the instrument settings on the quantitative results regarding the precision of the factor settings was found to be only 2.2%. Overall, the method proved to be rugged for most factors, except for the split-flow of the injector for which the method was only rugged to a limited extent.     

Analyssis of pharmaceutical substances by reaction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Derivatization of six pharmaceutical substances (catopril, metoclopramide, sotalol, hydrochlorothiazide, nalidixic acid, and stavudine) has been performed using five derivatizing reagents of different types; the derivatization has been followed by the GC/MS detection of the resultant products. The number of labile hydrogen atoms in the initial molecules substituted by the structural fragments of derivatizing reagents has been determined.     

Ion-selective electrode for aluminum determination in pharmaceutical substances, tea leaves and water samples

A novel ion-selective PVC membrane sensor for Al(III) ions based on 6-(4-nitrophenyl)-2-phenyl-4-(thiophen-2-yl)-3,5-diaza-bicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-ene (NTDH) as a new ionophore has been prepared and studied. The electrode exhibit a good response for aluminum ion over concentration range of 1.0x10(-6) to 1.0x10(-1) mol L(-1) with a Nernstian slope of 19.6+/-0.4 mV per decade and low detection limit of 6.3x10(-7) mol L(-1). The best performance was obtained with membrane composition 30% poly(vinyl chloride), 62% acetophenone, 5% oleic acid, 3% ionophore and 2 ml tetrahydrofuran. NTDH-based electrode was suitable for aqueous solutions of pH 3. It has relatively fast response time (approximately 10 s) and can be used at least for 3 months without any considerable divergence in potentials. The proposed membrane electrode revealed good selectivity for Al(III) ions over a wide variety of other cations. The standard electrode potentials were determined at different temperatures and used to calculate the isothermal coefficient of the electrode. The formation constant and stoichiometry ratio of ionophore-Al(III) complex were calculated at 25 degrees C by using segmented sandwich membrane method. It was used in non-aqueous solvents and also as indicator electrode in potentiometric determination of Al(III) ions in some real samples.     

A stability-indicating ultra-performance liquid chromatographic method for estimation of related substances and degradants in paliperidone active pharmaceutical ingredient and its pharmaceutical dosage forms

A simple, linear gradient, rapid, precise and stability-indicating analytical method was developed for the estimation of related substances and degradants of paliperidone API and tablets. The chromatographic separations were achieved using an Acquity ultra-performance liquid chromatograph (BEH 100 mm, 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm C-18 column) employing 0.01 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer (pH 2.0) as mobile phase A and acetonitrile-water (9:1) as mobile phase B. A linear gradient (mobile phase A, mobile phase B in the ratio of 84:16) with a 0.45 mL/min flow rate was chosen. All six impurities were eluted within five minutes of run time. The column temperature was maintained at 25 °C and a detector wavelength of 238 nm was employed. Paliperidone was exposed to thermal, photolytic, hydrolytic and oxidative stress conditions. The stressed samples were analyzed by the proposed method. Considerable degradation of the analyte was observed when it was subjected to oxidative conditions and impurity F was found to be the major degradant. Peak homogeneity data of paliperidone obtained by photodiode array (PDA) detection demonstrated the specificity of the method in the presence of degradants. The method was validated with respect to linearity, precision, accuracy, ruggedness, robustness, limit of detection and limit of quantification.     

Chemometric evaluation of the column classification system during the pharmaceutical analysis of lamotrigine and its related substances

This paper investigates the performance of a column classification system developed at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven applied to pharmaceutical chromatographic analyses. The liquid chromatography assay of lamotrigine and related compounds was carried out according to the method prescribed in the European Pharmacopoeia monograph, using 28 brands of stationary phases. A ranking was built based on the F _KUL value calculated against the selected reference column, then compared with the column test performance established for the stationary phases studied. Therefore, the system suitability test prescribed by the European Pharmacopoeia in order to distinguish between suitable or unsuitable columns for this analysis was evaluated. Moreover, it was examined whether the classes of the stationary phases, determined using test parameter results, contain either suitable or unsuitable supports for the lamotrigine separation. This assay was performed using chemometric a technique, namely factor analysis.

Sensitivity enhancement in capillary electrophoresis and their applications for analyses of pharmaceutical and related biochemical substances

This review aims to illustrate sensitivity enhancement methods in capillary electrophoresis (CE) and their applications for pharmaceutical and related biochemical substance analyses. The first two parts of the article describe the introduction and principle of CE. The main part focuses on strategies for sensitivity improvement in CE including detector and capillary technologies and preconcentration techniques. Applications of these techniques for pharmaceutical and biomedical substance analyses are surveyed during the years 2018–2021.     

Determination of piperazine in pharmaceutical drug substances using capillary electrophoresis with indirect UV detection

A fast, selective capillary electrophoresis (CE) method was developed for piperazine counter-ion analysis and applied to the analysis of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) that exists as a hemipiperazine salt. Due to the poor chromophore, the detection method chosen was indirect UV detection using benzylamine as the UV absorbing probe. Piperazine quantitation was performed using diethylamine as an internal standard and the method was validated for specificity, linearity, precision, and accuracy. The results indicate the method is suitable for piperazine counter-ion analysis in support of salt form characterization.