Binary co-crystals of the active pharmaceutical ingredient 1,4-bis(4-pyridyl)-2,3-diaza-1,3-butadiene and camphoric acid

Co-crystals comprising the active pharmaceutical ingredient 1,4-bis(4-pyridyl)-2,3-diaza-1,3-butadiene, C12H10N4, and the chiral co-formers (+)-, (-)- and (rac)-camphoric acid (cam), C10H16O4, have been synthesized. Two different stoichiometries of the API and co-former are obtained, namely 1:1 and 3:2. Crystallization experiments suggest that the 3:2 co-crystal is kinetically favoured over the 1:1 co-crystal. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of the co-crystals reveals N-H...O hydrogen bonding as the primary driving force for crystallization of the supramolecular structures. The 1:1 co-crystal contains undulating hydrogen-bonded ribbons, in which the chiral cam molecules impart a helical twist. The 3:2 co-crystal contains discrete Z-shaped motifs comprising three molecules of the API and two molecules of cam. The 3:2 co-crystals with (+)-cam, (-)-cam (space group P21) and (rac)-cam (space group P21/n) are isostructural. The enantiomeric co-crystals contain pseudo-symmetry consistent with space group P21/n, and the co-crystal with (rac)-cam represents a solid solution between the co-crystals containing (+)-cam and (-)-cam.

The Matthew Effect and widely prescribed pharmaceuticals lacking environmental monitoring: case study of an exposure-assessment vulnerability

Assessing ambient exposure to chemical stressors often begins with time-consuming and costly monitoring studies to establish environmental occurrence. Both human and ecological toxicology are currently challenged by the unknowns surrounding low-dose exposure/effects, compounded by the reality that exposure undoubtedly involves mixtures of multiple stressors whose identities and levels can vary over time. Long absent from the assessment process, however, is whether the full scope of the identities of the stressors is sufficiently known. The Matthew Effect (a psychosocial phenomenon sometimes informally called the "bandwagon effect" or "iceberg effect," among others) may adversely bias or corrupt the exposure assessment process. The Matthew Effect is evidenced by decisions that base the selection of stressors to target in environmental monitoring surveys on whether they have been identified in prior studies, rather than considering the possibility that additional, but previously unreported, stressors might also play important roles in an exposure scenario. The possibility that the Matthew Effect might influence the scope of environmental stressor research is explored for the first time in a comprehensive case study that examines the preponderance of "absence of data" (in contrast to positive data and "data of absence") for the environmental occurrence of a very large class of potential chemical stressors associated with ubiquitous consumer use - active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Comprehensive examination of the published data for an array of several hundred of the most frequently used drugs for whether their APIs are environmental contaminants provides a prototype example to catalyze discussion among the many disciplines involved with assessing risk. The findings could help guide the selection of those APIs that might merit targeting for environmental monitoring (based on the absence of data for environmental occurrence) as well as the prescribing of those medications that might have minimal environmental impact (based on data of absence for environmental occurrence).

Discovery and Preclinical Work

In any drug discovery and development effort, we must accomplish a number of critical steps to arrive at a compound that is safe and efficacious, and also exhibits the complex array of desired drug-like behaviors that warrants advancement to the clinic. These tasks include target identification and validation; screening for active compounds; chemical modification of candidate compounds to achieve optimized pharmacology; formulating the final drug product; and establishing safety in preclinical models. “Repurposing” drugs that have previously been approved (or shown to be safe in humans) for new clinical indications can provide a faster, less risky, and more cost-effective route for bringing a new therapy to patients. Such shortcuts in development can be particularly valuable to resource-constrained academicians. When performing drug discovery research, we must be particularly attentive to the robustness of our experiments, because inability to reproduce academic data continues to be a sticking point when projects are transferred to industry. Our experiments must be appropriately blinded, statistically powered, and meticulously documented so that our findings are worthy of the large investment required for their further translation into a drug. This chapter walks through the essential preclinical drug development steps that lead to a clinical drug candidate.

Nanocarriers for intravenous injection--the long hard road to the market

Nanodispersed drug delivery systems for the intravenous injection have successfully overcome the hurdle of drug approval in the European Union and the United States. Although there is a need for highly advanced nanocarrier devices they have not been the result of a rational formulation design but were developed as stand-alone products in a long chain of case-by-case studies. This review focuses on aspects in development, composition, and manufacture of these innovative dosage forms that are relevant for the translation into new drug products.

Subsidizing artemisinin-based combination therapies: a preliminary investigation of the Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria

BACKGROUND

The Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria (AMFm) is a subsidy mechanism to lower the price of, and hence increase access to, the best antimalarial medicines, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). While the AMFm stipulates that only quality-approved products are eligible for subsidy, it is not known whether those products, when actually supplied, are of good quality and comport with established pharmacopeial guidance on formulation and content of active ingredients. This study aimed to assess price and quality of AMFm ACTs, to compare AMFm ACTs with non-AMFm ACTs and artemisinin monotherapies, and to assess whether AMFm ACTs have been pilfered and diverted to a nearby country.

METHODS

In all, 140 artemisinin-based antimalarial drugs were acquired from 37 pharmacies in Lagos, Nigeria, and Accra, Ghana. An additional ten samples of AMFm ACTs were collected from Lomé, Togo (not participating in the AMFm). Samples were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography.

RESULTS

The AMFm ACTs were lower in price than many of the other drugs collected, but by less than anticipated or stipulated by the participating governments of Nigeria and Ghana. The quality of the AMFm ACTs was not universally good: overall, 7.7% had too little active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and none had too much - these results are not likely to be as a result of random chance. AMFm ACTs were also found to have been diverted, both to pharmacies in Lagos not participating in the AMFm and to a foreign city (Lomé) where the AMFm is not operational.

CONCLUSION

The AMFm is at best imperfectly displacing undesirable monotherapies, some portion of which are replaced by ACTs lacking sufficient API, which are often sold at prices exceeding government authorization. ACTs sold at a lower price with low-dose API, potentially extrapolated to approximately 100 million treatments ordered under the AMFm for Nigeria and Ghana, represent a possible concern to public health and the promotion of drug resistance.

Stability Indicating HPLC Method for the Determination of Chiral Purity of R-(-)-5-[2-aminopropyl]-2-methoxybenzene Sulfonamide

A chiral reverse phase liquid chromatographic method was developed for the enantiomeric resolution of racemic mixture of (-)-5-[2-aminopropyl]-2-methoxybenzene sulfonamide in bulk drug. The enantiomeric separation of sulfonamide was resolved on a Crownpak CR (+) column using perchloric acid buffer of pH 1.0 as mobile phase and with UV detection at 226 nm. The method is validated and proved to be robust. The limit of detection and quantification of S (-)-(5)-[2-aminopropyl]-2-methoxybenzene sulfonamide] was found to be 0.084 and 0.159 μg/ml, respectively for 20 μl injection volume. The percentage recovery of S (-)-(5)-[2-aminopropyl]-2-methoxybenzene sulfonamide] ranged from 99.57 to 101.88 in bulk drug samples of R (-)-(5)-[2- aminopropyl]-2-methoxybenzene sulfonamide].