Pharmaceutical alternatives examples

Veatch, Robert M., and Amy Haddad. Case Studies in Pharmacy Ethics. Oxford Oxford University Press, 2008. The ethical issues relate to difficult decisions faced by pharmacists (rather than pharmaceutical companies). Examples of the topics covered in this book include assisted suicide, conscientious refusal, pain management, equitable distribution of drug resources within institutions and managed care plans, confidentiality, and alternative and nontraditional therapies. Another ethical issue concerns weighing costs and benefits in helping consumers choose drugs. 

An alternative to extraction crystallization is used to obtain a desired enantiomer after asymmetric hydrolysis by Evonik Industries. In such a way, L-amino acids for infusion solutions or as intermediates for pharmaceuticals are prepared [35,36]. For example, non-proteinogenic amino acids like L-norvaline or L-norleucine are possible products. The racemic A-acteyl-amino acid is converted by acylase 1 from Aspergillus oryzae to yield the enantiopure L-amino acid, acetic acid and the unconverted substrate (Figure 4.7). The product recovery is achieved by crystallization, benefiting from the low solubility of the product. The product mixture is filtrated by an ultrafiltration membrane and the unconverted acetyl-amino acid is reracemized in a subsequent step. The product yield is 80% and the enantiomeric excess 99.5%. 

The pharmaceutical market is large and complex, new products being introduced at a very brisk pace, and it is difficult for doctors to judge which is the best possible alternative without some sort of help. One example of these information problems is the fact that doctors make their decisions on the basis of effectiveness and attach little importance to price. Caves et al.18 state that doctors lack information on comparative effectiveness and the risk of substitute pharmaceutical products. 

An alternative to the extraction of intact PHA polymer is the isolation of PHA monomers, oligomers, or various derivatives such as esters [74]. PH As are composed of stereo-chemically pure P-3-hydroxyacids, and therefore can be used as a source of optically pure organic substrates for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry [79]. In this protocol, the defatted cake containing PHA polymer would be chemically treated to obtain the PHA derivatives. For example, transesterification of the meal with methanol would give rise to methyl esters of 3-hydroxyalkanoic acids. The PHA derivatives would then be separated from the meal with appropriate solvents. One potential disadvantage of this method is the potential alteration of the quality of the residual meal if the harsh chemical treatments required for the production of PHA derivatives lead to protein or amino acid breakdown. 

Since the introduction of Gas-Liquid-Chromatography (GLC) (see Part V, Chapter 29) as an essential analytical tool, it has been judiciously exploited as an useful alternative means for not only determining water content in pharmaceutical chemicals but also limiting specific volatile substances present in them. It may be expatiated with the help of the following examples ... 

Even in projects with lower hit rates, carefully constructed filters should be applied, as was shown in the example of the protein-protein interaction target. Given the huge investment in HTS technology by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and the importance of the selection of actives to the drug discovery process, the scheme outlined here offers a practicable alternative to the Top X method with tangible and substantial benefits. 

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