Excipient degradation

Antioxidants should be used only when it can be shown that their incorporation cannot be avoided by appropriate manufacturing methods or packaging. Their intended performance in the product should be clearly stated—e.g., whether for the benefit of the active ingredient or an excipient. Their efficacy can depend on their nature, their concentration (subject to safety considerations), when they are incorporated in the manufacture of the finished product, the container, and the formulation (particularly their compatibility with other constituents). All of these issues should be addressed. Their activity should also be determined in the finished product under conditions simulating the use of the product. The extent of degradation should be determined with and without the antioxidant. 

The comprehensive profiling of drug substances and pharmaceutical excipients as to their physical and analytical characteristics remains at the core of pharmaceutical development. As a result, the compilation and publication of comprehensive summaries of physical and chemical data, analytical methods, routes of compound preparation, degradation pathways, uses and applications, etc., has always been a vital function to both academia and industry. 

Selective differential UV spectrophotometric method was presented for the determination of niclosamide in bulk and in its pharmaceuticals [43]. The method was based on measuring niclosamide in alkaline solutions against their neutral ethanolic solutions as blanks. The proposed method was sensitive, highly specific, and advantageous over the conventional UV assays, since the interference of the excipients, impurities, degradation products, or other accompanying drugs was nullified. 

In a bioanalytical method, analyses of blank samples (plasma, urine, or other matrix) should be obtained from at least six sources. Each blank sample should be tested for the possible interference of endogenous substances, metabolites, or degradation products. The response of the peaks interfering at the retention time of the analyte should be less than 20% of the response of a lower quantitation limit standard, and should be less than 5% of the response of the internal standard that was used [18, 19]. For dissolution studies, the dissolution media or excipients should not give a peak or spot that has an identical Rt or Rf value with the analyte [20]. 

The sample temperature is increased in a linear fashion, while the property in question is evaluated on a continuous basis. These methods are used to characterize compound purity, polymorphism, solvation, degradation, and excipient compatibility [41], Thermal analysis methods are normally used to monitor endothermic processes (melting, boiling, sublimation, vaporization, desolvation, solid-solid phase transitions, and chemical degradation) as well as exothermic processes (crystallization and oxidative decomposition). Thermal methods can be extremely useful in preformulation studies, since the carefully planned studies can be used to indicate the existence of possible drug-excipient interactions in a prototype formulation [7]. 

It was recognized very early that diffuse reflectance spectroscopy could be used to study the interactions of various compounds in a formulation, and the technique has been particularly useful in the characterization of solid state reactions [24]. Lach concluded that diffuse reflectance spectroscopy could also be used to verify the potency of a drug in its formulation. In addition, studies conducted under stress conditions would be useful in the study of drug-excipient interactions, drug degradation pathways, and alterations in bioavailability owing to chemisorption of the drug onto other components in the formulation [24]. 

The purified product is presented as a solution and contains sodium citrate, EDTA, sodium chloride and polysorbate 80 as excipients. A daily (s.c.) injection of 100 mg is recommended for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This inflammatory condition is (not surprisingly) characterized by the presence of high levels of IL-1 in the synovial fluid of affected joints. In addition to its pro-inflammatory properties, IL-1 also mediates additional negative influences on the joint/bone, including promoting cartilage degradation and stimulation of bone resorption. 

The RNA-based aptamer consists of 28 nucleontides of predefined sequence, chemically modified in order to render it resistant to nuclease degradation. Two 20 kDa PEG molecules are also covalently attached at one end of the nucleotide. The overall product molecular mass is 50 kDa. Final product is presented as a sterile solution containing sodium chloride and sodium phosphate as excipients. 

Stability and decomposition kinetics of aspirin both as a solid and in solution continue to be studied. The topochemical decomposition pattern of aspirin tablets has been explored.175 The degradation of aspirin in the presence of sodium carbonate and high humidity was studied by x-ray diffraction.176 The activation energy of decomposition by water vapor in the solid state was found to be 30 kcal/mol.177 The effect of common tablet excipients on aspirin in aqueous suspension was also studied.178... 

Tablet excipient interactions are occasionally observed when evaluating a drug product for purity. Since there are many excipients in a typical pharmaceutical tablet, known bands need to be identified to make it easier to evaluate for degradation products. Unfortunately, occasionally an inert excipient may react with a derivatizing agent used in TLC making this entity appear as a band that now needs to be identified. In Fig. 13.33, a placebo tablet, an extracted tablet, a handmade tablet blend of all components, and the drug substance standard are all applied to the same HPTLC plate and developed. These results alert the analyst to any excipients that may interfere in the evaluation of the tablet for purity. In this case, the only bands observed in the tablet blend and extracted tablet are the same bands seen in the tablet blend.

If an excipient had been observed, it would need to be identified. In Fig. 13.34, the drug substance standard is applied on lane 1 next to the extracted tablet. The remaining lanes labeled 2-12 are individual excipients in this particular tablet. Only one excipient, number 6, appears and it does in fact have the same R value as the band observed in the tablet. This confirmatory test is commonly used to identify interfering excipients. Now this band can be labeled appropriately, rather than mistakenly labeled as a degradant or impurity. 

From a regulatory standpoint, the FDA s concern regarding safety involves the toxicity, degradants, and impurities of excipients, as discussed in other chapters in this book. In addition, other chapters of this book address types of toxicity concerns, toxicity testing strategies, and exposure and risk assessment of excipients. 

Currently, most strategies for buccal delivery of peptide drugs have focused on the application of excipients that would shorten the time of absorption and adhere drugs to a local site on the mucosa, thus decreasing exposure to proteolytic degradation and possible release of drug back into the mouth cavity. This strategy has been utilized in the buccal delivery of insulin, enkephalin, and testosterone [37, 70]. 

A variety of analytical methods, such as ELISA and HPLC, can be used to evaluate the effect of excipients or lyophilization on the stability of the biophar-maceutical product. Some parameters the analytical methods should evaluate are degradation, chemical and physical changes, aggregation, adsorption, and loss of biological activity. 

FIGURE 19 HPLC separation of the same stability sample shown in Figure 18 under gradient conditions showing better resolution and increased sensitivity of trace impurities, degradants (DG), and excipients (Exc). Reprinted with permission from Reference 19. 

For DP Methods should separate the API and DP degradation products from excipients. DP methods are not required to monitor synthetic process impurities, unless they are also DP degradation products. Methods should be able to detect degradation products present at levels greater than 0.1% relative to the API. Degradation products present at levels greater than 0.2% should be identified and specifications should be placed on limits. 

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