Generic versus innovator: Analysis of the pharmaceutical qualities of paracetamol and ibuprofen

The physicochemical equivalence of twenty-two brands of paracetamol and nine brands of ibuprofen tablets sourced from retail Pharmacy outlets in the Nigerian market to their respective innovator brands were investigated. The uniformity of weight, friability, crushing strength, disintegration and dissolution times and assay of active paracetamol ingredient were used as assessment parameters. All the brands of paracetamol and ibuprofen tablets complied with the official specifications for uniformity of weight. However, five brands of paracetamol failed the friability test, one brand of paracetamol and two brands of ibuprofen failed the disintegration test and three brands of paracetamol and four brands of ibuprofen failed the assay of active ingredients. The study shows that not all the brands of paracetamol and ibuprofen tablets are physico-chemically equivalent to their innovator brands. There is therefore the need for constant market surveillance to ascertain their compliance with official standards and equivalence to the innovator products. Keywords: Generic, innovator brand, paracetamol, ibuprofen, physicochemical equivalence East Central African Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vol. 12 (2009) 55-6

Packing and cohesive properties of some locally extracted starches

Purpose: The packing and cohesive properties of locally developed cassava, potato and yam starches have been characterised using the maximum volume reduction due to packing as expressed by the Kawakita constant a, and the angle of internal flow, θ, respectively. Methodology: The starches were characterized for their particle size, shape and particle size distribution using optical microscopy. Tapping experiments were used to quantify the packing and cohesive properties of the starches. The volume reduction ability was estimated using the Kawakita equation. Results: The shape factor of the starches provided a proportionality constant between the particle size and surface area. The rank order of the particle size and shape factor of the starches was yam >potato >cassava. The ranking of maximum volume reduction, a, for the starches was potato > cassava > yam while the ranking for the angle of internal flow,θ, an index of cohesiveness, was cassava > potato > yam. The values of these parameters depended on the physical properties of the starches. Conclusion: The results obtained indicate that the physical properties of the particles affect the packing and cohesive properties of the starches, and are important in predicting the behaviour of the starches during handling and use in pharmaceutical preparations. These properties need to be closely controlled in pre-formulation studies

Effects of plantain and corn starches on the mechanical and disintegration properties of paracetamol tablets

The effects of plantain starch obtained from the unripe fruit of the plantMusa paradisiaca L. (Musaceae) on the mechanical and disintegration properties of paracetamol tablets have been investigated in comparison with the effects of corn starch BP using a 23 factorial experimental design. The individual and combined effects of nature of starch binder (N), concentration of starch binder (C), and the relative density of tablet (RD) on the tensile strength (TS), brittle fracture index (BFI), and disintegration time (DT) of the tablets were investigated. The ranking of the individual effects on TS was RD>C≫N, on BFI was C≫RD>N and on DT was N>C>RD. The ranking for the interaction effects on TS and DT was N-C≫N-RD>C-RD, while that on BFI was N-C≫C-RD>N-RD. Changing nature of starch from a “low” (plantain starch) to a “high” (corn starch) level, increasing the concentration of starch binding agent from 2.5% to 10.0% wt/wt, and increasing relative density of the tablet from 0.80 to 0.90, led to increase in the values of TS and DT, but a decrease in BFI. Thus, tablets containing plantain starch had lower tensile strength and disintegration time values than those containing corn starch, but showed better ability to reduce the lamination and capping tendency in paracetamol tablet formulation. The interaction between N and C was significantly (P<.001) higher than those between N and RD and between C and RD. There is therefore the need to carefully choose the nature (N) and concentration (C) of starch used as binding agent in tablet formulations to obtain tablets of desired bond strength and disintegration properties. Furthermore, plantain starch could be useful as an alternative binding agent to cornstarch, especially where faster disintegration is required and the problems of lamination and capping are of particular concern

Formulation and in vitro evaluation of natural gum-based microbeads for delivery of Ibuprofen

Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness of three natural gums, namely albizia, cissus and khaya gums, as excipients for the formulation of ibuprofen microbeads.Methods: Ibuprofen microbeads were prepared by the ionotropic gelation method using the natural gums and their blends with sodium alginate at various concentrations using different chelating agents (calcium chloride, zinc chloride, calcium acetate and zinc acetate) at different concentrations. Microbeads were assessed using SEM, swelling characteristics, drug entrapment efficiencies, release properties and drug release kinetics.Results: The natural gums alone could not form stable microbeads in the different chelating agents. Stable small spherical discrete microbeads with particle size of 1.35 ± 0.11 to 1.78 ± 0.11 mm, were obtained using the blends of natural gum: alginate at total polymer concentration of 2 % w/v using 10 % w/v calcium chloride solution at a stirring speed of 300 rpm. The encapsulation efficiencies of the microbeads ranged from 35.3 to 79.8 % and dissolution times, t15 and t80 increased with increase in the concentration of the natural gums present in the blends. Controlled release was obtained for over 4 h and the release was found to be by a combination of diffusion and erosion mechanisms from spherical formulations.Conclusion: The three natural gums would be useful in the formulation of ibuprofen microbeads and the type and concentration of natural gum in the polymer blend can be used to modulate the release properties of the microbeads.Keywords: Microbeads, Ibuprofen, Natural gums, Sodium alginate, Drug release kinetic