First Generic Teriparatide: Structural and Biological Sameness to Its Reference Medicinal Product

Teriparatide is an anabolic peptide drug indicated for the treatment of osteoporosis. Recombinant teriparatide was first approved in 2002 and has since been followed by patent-free alternatives under biosimilar or hybrid regulatory application. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the essential similarity between synthetic teriparatide BGW and the reference medicinal product (RMP), and thus to ensure the development of the first generic teriparatide drug. Hence, an extensive side-by-side comparative exercise, focusing on structural and biological activity, was performed using a wide range of state-of-the-art orthogonal methods. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS), UV, circular dichroism (CD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) demonstrated the structural similarity between teriparatide BGW and the RMP. Comparative cell-based bioassays showed that the synthetic and recombinant peptides have identical behaviors. Teriparatide BGW, as a generic drug, provides an available treatment option for patients with osteoporosis and offers clinical benefits identical to those provided by the RMP.

A Validated IVRT Method to Assess Topical Creams Containing Metronidazole Using a Novel Approach

An IVRT method was developed and validated to confirm its reproducibility, precision, sensitivity, selectivity, accuracy, robustness, and reliability. A novel approach was used to demonstrate the appropriateness of the IVRT method to accurately assess "sameness" between topical products and to confirm that the methodology applied also possesses the requisite discriminatory power to detect differences should such differences exist between products. In the first instance, the reference product (Metrocreme®) containing 0.75% metronidazole (MTZ) was tested against itself as a positive control, to accurately demonstrate "sameness", where the results met the relevant acceptance criteria falling within the limits of 75-133.33% in accordance with the FDA's SUPAC-SS guidance. In addition, two specially prepared creams containing 25% less and 26% more MTZ, i.e., 0.563% and 0.945%, served as negative controls and were compared against the reference product. Neither of these creams fell within the "sameness" acceptance criteria, thereby confirming the discriminatory ability of the IVRT method to detect differences between MTZ products. Furthermore, another cream containing 0.75% MTZ tested against the reference product was shown to be pharmaceutically equivalent to the reference product. These results confirm the appropriateness of the IVRT method as a valuable tool for use in the development of topical MTZ products intended for local action and indicate the potential for general use with other topical products.