[The Raman Spectroscopy (RS): A new tool for the analytical quality control of injectable in health settings. Comparison of RS technique versus HPLC and UV/Vis-FTIR, applied to anthracyclines as anticancer drugs]

Label-Free Quantification of Nanoencapsulated Piperonyl Esters in Cosmetic Hydrogels Using Raman Spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy is a well-established technique for the molecular characterisation of samples and does not require extensive pre-analytical processing for complex cosmetic products. As an illustration of its potential, this study investigates the quantitative performance of Raman spectroscopy coupled with partial least squares regression (PLSR) for the analysis of Alginate nanoencapsulated Piperonyl Esters (ANC-PE) incorporated into a hydrogel. A total of 96 ANC-PE samples covering a 0.4% w/w-8.3% w/w PE concentration range have been prepared and analysed. Despite the complex formulation of the sample, the spectral features of the PE can be detected and used to quantify the concentrations. Using a leave-K-out cross-validation approach, samples were divided into a training set (n = 64) and a test set, samples that were previously unknown to the PLSR model (n = 32). The root mean square error of cross-validation (RMSECV) and prediction (RMSEP) was evaluated to be 0.142% (w/w PE) and 0.148% (w/w PE), respectively. The accuracy of the prediction model was further evaluated by the percent relative error calculated from the predicted concentration compared to the true value, yielding values of 3.58% for the training set and 3.67% for the test set. The outcome of the analysis demonstrated the analytical power of Raman to obtain label-free, non-destructive quantification of the active cosmetic ingredient, presently PE, in complex formulations, holding promise for future analytical quality control (AQC) applications in the cosmetics industry with rapid and consumable-free analysis.

Analysis of IV Drugs in the Hospital Workflow by Raman Spectroscopy: The Case of Piperacillin and Tazobactam

Medical errors associated with IV preparation and administration procedures in a hospital workflow can even cost human lives due to the direct effect they have on patients. A large number of such incidents, which have been reported in bibliography up to date, indicate the urgent need for their prevention. This study aims at proposing an analytical methodology for identifying and quantifying IV drugs before their administration, which has the potential to be fully harmonized with clinical practices. More specifically, it reports on the analysis of a piperacillin (PIP) and tazobactam (TAZ) IV formulation, using Raman spectroscopy. The simultaneous analysis of the two APIs in the same formulation was performed in three stages: before reconstitution in the form of powder without removing the substance out of the commercial glass bottle (non-invasively), directly after reconstitution in the same way, and just before administration, either the liquid drug is placed in the infusion set (on-line analysis) or a minimal amount of it is transferred from the IV bag to a Raman optic cell (at-line analysis). Except for the successful identification of the APIs in all cases, their quantification was also achieved through calibration curves with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.953 to 0.999 for PIP and from 0.965 to 0.997 for TAZ. In any case, the whole procedure does not need more than 10 min to be completed. The current methodology, based on Raman spectroscopy, outweighs other spectroscopic (UV/Vis, FT-IR/ATR) or chromatographic (HPLC, UHPLC) protocols, already applied, which are invasive, costly, time-consuming, not environmentally friendly, and require specialized staff and more complex sample preparation procedures, thus exposing the staff to hazardous materials, especially in cases of cytotoxic drugs. Such an approach has the potential to bridge the gap between experimental setup and clinical implementation through exploitation of already developed handheld devices, along with the presence of digital spectral libraries.

In situ Analytical Quality Control of chemotherapeutic solutions in infusion bags by Raman spectroscopy

Analytical Quality Control (AQC) in centralised preparation units of oncology centers is a common procedure relying on the identification and quantification of the prepared chemotherapeutic solutions for safe intravenous administration to patients. Although the use of Raman spectroscopy for AQC has gained much interest, in most applications it remains coupled to a flow injection analyser (FIA) requiring withdrawal of the solution for analysis. In addition to current needs for more rapid and cost-effective analysis, the risk of exposure of clinical staff to the toxic molecules during daily handling is a serious concern to address. Raman spectroscopic analysis, for instance by Confocal Raman Microscopy (CRM), could enable direct analysis (non-invasive) for AQC directly in infusion bags. In this study, 3 anticancer drugs, methotrexate (MTX), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and gemcitabine (GEM) have been selected to highlight the potential of CRM for withdrawal free analysis. Solutions corresponding to the clinical range of each drug were prepared in 5% glucose and data was collected from infusion bags placed under the Raman microscope. Firstly, 100% discrimination has been obtained by Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) confirming that the identification of drugs can be performed. Secondly, using Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR), quantitative analysis was performed with mean % error of predicted concentrations of respectively 3.31%, 5.54% and 8.60% for MTX, 5-FU and GEM. These results are in accordance with the 15% acceptance criteria used for the current clinical standard technique, FIA, and the Limits of Detection for all drugs were determined to be substantially lower than the administered range, thus highlighting the potential of confocal Raman spectroscopy for direct analysis of chemotherapeutic solutions.

Chemometric Analysis of UV-Visible Spectral Fingerprints for the Discrimination and Quantification of Clinical Anthracycline Drug Preparation Used in Oncology

In clinical treatment, the analytical quality assessment of the delivery of chemotherapeutic preparations is required to guarantee the patient's safety regarding the dose and most importantly the appropriate anticancer drug. On its own, the development of rapid analytical methods allowing both qualitative and quantitative control of the formulation of prepared solutions could significantly enhance the hospital's workflow, reducing costs, and potentially providing optimal patient care. UV-visible spectroscopy is a nondestructive, fast, and economical technique for molecular characterization of samples. A discrimination and quantification study of three chemotherapeutic drugs doxorubicin, daunorubicin, and epirubicin was conducted, using clinically relevant concentration ranges prepared in 0.9% NaCl solutions. The application of the partial least square discriminant analysis PLS-DA method on the UV-visible spectral data shows a perfect discrimination of the three drugs with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. The use of partial least square regression PLS shows high quantification performance of these molecules in solution represented by the low value of root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) and root mean square error of cross validation (RMSCECV) on the one hand and the high value of R-square on the other hand. This study demonstrated the viability of UV-visible fingerprinting (routine approach) coupled with chemometric tools for the classification and quantification of chemotherapeutic drugs during clinical preparation.

A mathematical approach to deal with nanoparticle polydispersity in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy to quantify antineoplastic agents

Antineoplastic agents are, for most of them, highly toxic drugs prepared at hospital following individualized prescription. To protect patients and healthcare workers, it is important to develop analytical tools able to identify and quantify such drugs on a wide concentration range. In this context, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been tested as a specific and sensitive technique. Despite the standardization of the nanoparticle synthesis, a polydispersity of nanoparticles in the suspension and a lack of reproducibility persist. This study focuses on the development of a new mathematical approach to deal with this nanoparticle polydispersity and its consequences on SERS signal variability through the feasibility of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) quantification using silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and a handled Raman spectrophotometer. Variability has been maximized by synthetizing six different batches of AgNPs for an average size of 24.9 nm determined by transmission electron microscopy, with residual standard deviation of 17.0%. Regarding low performances of the standard multivariate data processing, an alternative approach based on the nearest neighbors were developed to quantify 5FU. By this approach, the predictive performance of the 5FU concentration was significantly improved. The mean absolute relative error (MARE) decreased from 16.8% with the traditional approach based on PLS regression to 6.30% with the nearest neighbors approach (p-value < 0.001). This study highlights the importance of developing mathematics adapted to SERS analysis which could be a step to overcome the spectral variability in SERS and thus participate in the development of this technique as an analytical tool in quality control to quantify molecules with good performances, particularly in the pharmaceutical field.

Proposal of a simple and rapid method for the chemotherapy preparations analytical control by spectrophotometry UV-Vis method

INTRODUCTION

The preparation of anticancer chemotherapy in a hospital must meet several objectives; the first main is the quality, which can be provided by setting up a surveillance system and a quality control of each preparations. The aim of this work is to present a simple, fast and accurate spectrophotometric method for the routine control of cytotoxic preparations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is a study carried out in the cytotoxic preparation unit of the university center of Rabat-Sale children's hospital in Morocco. All samples of preparations were collected and analyzed daily on the site. After validation of the analytical method with respect to many parameters such as: linearity, accuracy and precision according to ICH Q2 guidelines, samples of cytotoxic preparations collected were assayed.

RESULTS

The results are satisfactory with good level of exactitude, and high precision.

CONCLUSION

Compared to other techniques, this method can be considered as a useful alternative in the routine quality control of preparations. It can quickly obtain qualitative and quantitative information with instrumentation and inexpensive reagents.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of therapeutic solutions using Raman and infrared spectroscopy

Anticancer drugs are prescribed and administrated to an increasing number of patients on a daily basis. As a consequence, a number of concerns have been raised about the patient health and safety in the case that the drugs administered are not at the required concentration or even worse not the correct ones. Quality control of therapeutic solutions has therefore been extensively implemented in hospital environments, in order to avoid any failure in the intense workflow faced by administering pharmacists. In the present study, infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy have been employed for the analysis of 3 commercially available therapeutic solutions TEVA®, MYLAN®, CERUBIDINE®, respectively containing doxorubicin, epirubicin and daunorubicin. They perfectly illustrate the analytical difficulties encountered, as these 3 chemotherapeutic drugs are isomers, hardly distinguishable with conventional approaches such as UV/VIS spectrometry. Any analytical failure to identify these molecules can lead to delays in patient treatment. While Partial Least Squares Regression analysis demonstrates that both Raman and IR can deliver satisfactory quantitative analysis in the clinical range, with respective Root Mean Square Error of Cross Validation (RMSECV) between 0.0127 - 0.0220 g·L^-1 and 0.0573 - 0.0759 g·L^-1, the identification rate between the 2 techniques differs substantially. Indeed, Principal Component Analysis - Factorial Discriminant Analysis (PCA-FDA) highlights that, depending on the data preprocessing applied to Raman spectra, the discrimination between the 3 drugs is decreased, with in some cases specificity and sensitivity below 50%. However, IR analysis displays encouraging results with an overall specificity and sensitivity between 99 and 100%, suggesting that reliable validation of the therapeutic solution for administration to patients can be achieved. IR and Raman spectroscopy could assist and support quality control of chemotherapeutic solutions prepared in personalised concentrations for each patient. The effective and reliable characterisation of therapeutic solutions could have a lot to offer to improve current practices in a near future.

Process analytical technologies and injectable drug products: Is there a future?

Parametric release was the first subset of real time release testing (RTRT), applied to terminally sterilised injectable drug products. The objective was to offer the industry an alternative to the time and money consuming sterility testing, without compromising the sterility of the products. The rationale was that quality cannot be tested into products, instead it must be planned (the principle of quality by design, QbD). This can be implemented by setting appropriate in-process controls supported on process analytical technologies (PAT). Two of the most versatile and promising PAT tools are the near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and the Raman spectroscopy. However, their application to injectable drug product development and manufacturing has been scarce. This review has the objective to provide a framework for the practical implementation of the QbD approach to injectable formulations, including application of diverse risk assessment and factorial design tools. Finally, the actual application of PAT, namely NIRS and Raman spectroscopy, to injectable drug product analysis is addressed.

Discriminative and Quantitative Analysis of Antineoplastic Taxane Drugs Using a Handheld Raman Spectrometer

This study was conducted to evaluate the ability of Raman spectroscopy (RS) to control antineoplastic preparations used for chemotherapy in order to ensure its physical and chemical qualities. Three taxane drugs: cabazitaxel (CBX), docetaxel (DCX) and paclitaxel (PCX) at therapeutic concentration ranges were analyzed using a handheld spectrometer at 785 nm. Qualitative and quantitative models were developed and optimized using a calibration set (n=75 per drug) by partial least square discriminant analysis and regression and validated using a test set (n=27 per drug). All samples were correctly assigned with an accuracy of 100%. Despite optimization, quantitative analysis showed limited performances at the lowest concentrations. The root mean square error of predictions ranged from 0.012 mg/mL for CBX to 0.048 mg/mL for DCX with a minimal coefficient of determination of 0.9598. The linearity range was validated from 0.175 to 0.30 mg/mL for CBX, from 0.40 to 1.00 mg/mL for DCX and from 0.57 to 1.20 mg/mL for PCX. Despite some limitations, this study confirms the potential of RS to control these drugs and also provides substantial advantages to secure the activity for healthcare workers. As a result of its rapidity and the uncomplicated use of a handheld instrument, RS appears to be a promising method to augment security of the medication preparation process in hospitals.

Discrimination and quantification of two isomeric antineoplastic drugs by rapid and non-invasive analytical control using a handheld Raman spectrometer

Raman spectroscopy is a rapid, non-destructive and non-invasive method that is a promising tool for real-time analytical control of drug concentrations. This study evaluated a handheld Raman device to discriminate and quantify two isomeric drugs used to treat cancer. Doxorubicin (DOXO) and epirubicin (EPIR) samples were analyzed at therapeutic concentrations from 0.1 to 2mg/mL (n=90) and 0.08-2mg/mL (n=90) by non-invasive measurements using a portable Raman spectrometer. The discrimination of these two molecules was demonstrated for all concentrations (n=180) by qualitative analysis using partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) with 100% classification accuracy, sensitivity and specificity and 0% error rate. For each molecule, quantitative analyses were performed using PLS regression. The validity of the model was evaluated using root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) and prediction (RMSEP) that furnished 0.05 and 0.02mg/mL for DOXO and 0.17 and 0.16mg/mL for EPIR after pretreatment optimization. Based on the accuracy profile, the linearity range was from 1.256 to 2.000mg/mL for DOXO (R²=0.9988) and from 0.553 to 2.000mg/Ml for EPIR (R²=0.9240) and repeatability (CV% max of 1.8% for DOXO and 3.2% for EPIR) and intermediate precision (CV% max of 2.8% for DOXO and 4.5% for EPIR) were both acceptable. Despite the narrow validated concentration range for quantitative analysis, this study shows the potential of a handheld Raman spectrometer coupled to chemometric approaches for real-time quantification of cytotoxic drugs, as well for discriminating between two drugs with similar UV absorption profiles. Finally, the use of a handheld spectrometer with the possibility of a direct measurement of substances in containers is a potentially valuable tool for combining patient safety with security of healthcare workers.

DrugCam®-An intelligent video camera system to make safe cytotoxic drug preparations

DrugCam(®) is a new approach to control the chemotherapy preparations with an intelligent video system that enables automatic verification during the critical stages of preparations combined with an a posteriori control with partial or total visualization of the video recording of preparations. The assessment was about the recognizing of anticancer drug vials (qualitative analysis) and syringe volumes (quantitative analysis). The qualitative analysis was conducted for a total of 120 vials with sensitivity of 100% for 84.2% of the vials and at least 97% for all the vials tested. Accuracy was at least 98.5% for all vials. The quantitative analysis was assessed by detecting 10 measures of each graduation for syringes. The identification error rate was 2.1% (244/11,640) i.e. almost 94% to the next graduation. Only 3% (35/1164) of the graduations tested, i.e. 23/35 for volume <0.13 ml of 1 ml syringes, presented a volume error outside the admissible limit of ± 5% of a confidence band constructed for the estimated linear regression line for each syringe. In addition to the vial detection model, barcodes can also read when they are present on vials. DrugCam(®) offers an innovative approach for controlling chemotherapy preparations and constitutes an optimized application of telepharmacy.

A UV-Raman spectrometry method for quality control of anticancer preparations: Results after 18 months of implementation in hospital pharmacy

In France, chemotherapy preparation units of hospital pharmacy compound cytotoxic infusion bags adapted to each patient. The narrow therapeutic index of these preparations led us to implement qualitative and quantitative control for patients' safety. To this aim, we calibrated an equipment combining UV-vis spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy (QC Prep+) and monitored 14 different molecule-solvent combinations over a 18 months period. This rapid and specific method allowed the qualitative and quantitative analysis of 1 mL sample tests in less than 2 min. On 5742 anticancer preparations, we obtained accepted results with more than 99.4% solvent identification, 99.6% drug identification and only 1.52% of preparations not matching quantitative specifications (±15% of theoretical concentration). This quantitative control enabled us to pinpoint some critical points of production for two of the most common preparations. We thus updated the procedures of reconstitution and preparation, increasing the quality of final product. UV-Raman spectrometry is thus an effective tool to control chemotherapy infusions and to improve good practices of preparation.

Comparative analysis of methods for real-time analytical control of chemotherapies preparations

Control of chemotherapies preparations are now an obligation in France, though analytical control is compulsory. Several methods are available and none of them is presumed as ideal. We wanted to compare them so as to determine which one could be the best choice. We compared non analytical (visual and video-assisted, gravimetric) and analytical (HPLC/FIA, UV/FT-IR, UV/Raman, Raman) methods thanks to our experience and a SWOT analysis. The results of the analysis show great differences between the techniques, but as expected none us them is without defects. However they can probably be used in synergy. Overall for the pharmacist willing to get involved, the implementation of the control for chemotherapies preparations must be widely anticipated, with the listing of every parameter, and remains according to us an analyst's job.

Development of a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy coupled to UV-Visible analysis technique for aminosides and glycopeptides quantitation in antibiotic locks

Antibiotic Lock technique maintains catheters' sterility in high-risk patients with long-term parenteral nutrition. In our institution, vancomycin, teicoplanin, amikacin and gentamicin locks are prepared in the pharmaceutical department. In order to insure patient safety and to comply to regulatory requirements, antibiotic locks are submitted to qualitative and quantitative assays prior to their release. The aim of this study was to develop an alternative quantitation technique for each of these 4 antibiotics, using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) coupled to UV-Visible spectroscopy and to compare results to HPLC or Immunochemistry assays. Prevalidation studies permitted to assess spectroscopic conditions used for antibiotic locks quantitation: FTIR/UV combinations were used for amikacin (1091-1115cm(-1) and 208-224nm), vancomycin (1222-1240cm(-1) and 276-280nm), and teicoplanin (1226-1230cm(-1) and 278-282nm). Gentamicin was quantified with FTIR only (1045-1169cm(-1) and 2715-2850cm(-1)) due to interferences in UV domain of parabens, preservatives present in the commercial brand used to prepare locks. For all AL, the method was linear (R(2)=0.996 to 0.999), accurate, repeatable (intraday RSD%: from 2.9 to 7.1% and inter-days RSD%: 2.9 to 5.1%) and precise. Compared to the reference methods, the FTIR/UV method appeared tightly correlated (Pearson factor: 97.4 to 99.9%) and did not show significant difference in recovery determinations. We developed a new simple reliable analysis technique for antibiotics quantitation in locks using an original association of FTIR and UV analysis, allowing a short time analysis to identify and quantify the studied antibiotics.