Information sources biopharmaceutics

Contains citations to the worldwide pharmaceutical and pharmacy literature from 1970 to the present, including drug therapy, toxicity, and pharmacy practice as well as legislation, regulation, technology, utilization, biopharmaceutics, information processing, education, economics, ethics and other topics. Covers more than 800 journal sources. Produced by the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists (Data-Star, DIALOG, DIMDI, OVID, STN available on CD-ROM from Silver Platter). 

Source The main source of the information in this table is either the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Web site or European Medicines Agency (EMEA) Web site. For biopharmaceuticals approved before 1995 limited information is available so the author used the most recent label (package insert) to derive the reproductive, carcinogeneticity, and genetic toxicology studies completed for marketing approval. 

An important fact inherent in the purity analysis of a recombinant pharmaceutical is that the absolute purity of any protein is an elusive, if not an unobtainable, measurement. For biopharmaceuticals, purity is a relative term. Protein purity is method-dependent and is defined by the shortcomings of the analytical procedure. Also, unlike small traditional drugs, proteins are highly complex molecules. For these two reasons, more than one method must be utilized to define a protein s purity. The greater the number of methods used in the purity analysis, the greater the assurance is that the product is pure. Furthermore, the purity determined by an analytical method can only be properly interpreted based on the method s validation. Analytical methods validation is critical to and inseparable from purity determinations. A detailed discussion on analytical methods validation is beyond the scope of this chapter but other sources of information are available for the interested reader.11 13... 

This book is intended to be a practical guide to pharmaceutical preformulation and formulation. It can be used as a reference source and a guidance tool for those working in the pharmaceutical industry or related industries, for example, medical devices and biopharmaceuticals, or anyone wanting an insight into this subject area. The information presented is essentially based on the extensive experiences of the editor and various other contributors who are all actively working in the industry and have learned best practice from their experiences. 

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