Jacques O. De Beer

Comparison and combination of spectroscopic techniques for the detection of counterfeit medicines

During this study, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy were applied to 55 samples of counterfeit and imitations of Viagra and 39 samples of counterfeit and imitations of Cialis. The aim of the study was to investigate which of these techniques and associations of them were the best for discriminating genuine from counterfeit and imitation samples. Only the regions between 1800-400 cm(-1) and 7000-4000 cm(-1) were used for FT-IR and NIR spectroscopy respectively. Partial least square analysis has been used to allow the detection of counterfeit and imitation tablets. It is shown that for the Viagra samples, the best results were provided by a combination of FT-IR and NIR spectroscopy. On the other hand, the best results for the Cialis samples were provided by the combination of NIR and Raman spectroscopy (1400-1190 cm(-1)). These techniques not only permitted a clear discrimination between genuine and counterfeit or imitation samples but also the distinction of clusters among illegal samples. This might be interesting for forensic investigations by authorities.

Characterisation of reversed-phase liquid chromatographic columns by chromatographic tests. Evaluation of 36 test parameters: repeatability, reproducibility and correlation.

The European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) or other official compendia give only a general description of the stationary phase in the description of a liquid chromatographic method. Therefore the selection of a column giving suitable selectivity presents difficulties. Earlier, a test procedure was proposed that allows measurement of a number of parameters which are reported to be representative for stationary phase characteristics. This paper describes how the test procedure was applied on 69 RP-LC C18 columns. Chromatographic parameters obtained as test results were evaluated, and their repeatability, reproducibility and correlation were examined.

Characterisation of reversed-phase liquid chromatographic columns by chromatographic tests. Rational column classification by a minimal number of column test parameters.

The European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) and other official compendia give only a general description of the stationary phase in the description of a liquid chromatographic method. Therefore the selection of a column giving suitable selectivity presents difficulties. Earlier, a test procedure was proposed that allows to measure 36 chromatographic parameters which have been described for characterising stationary phases. This procedure was carried out on 69 reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) columns. This paper focuses on the classification of RP-LC stationary phases based on chromatographic parameters. A chemometric study was conducted using 24 parameters that could be measured in a repeatable and reproducible way. Principal component analysis was used to classify the columns and to estimate the minimal number of parameters necessary for a rational classification. It is shown that after reducing the number of parameters from 24 to four or three, similar classifications were obtained. The column classifications were compared to the European Pharmacopoeia stationary phase description and to the column properties obtained from the manufacturers.

Minimal number of chromatographic test parameters for the characterisation of reversed-phase liquid chromatographic stationary phases

This paper focuses on the classification or differentiation of RP-HPLC columns based on measured chromatographic properties. A chemometric study has been conducted on a published data set consisting of 85 RP-HPLC columns and on a data set consisting of 47 self-tested columns. Principal component analysis enables determination of the number of parameters necessary for a rational differentiation. The results show that reducing the number of parameters for such differentiation still allows classification of the columns just as a higher number did. It is shown that three test parameters produce a classification similar to that obtained with five parameters.

Chromatography in the detection and characterization of illegal pharmaceutical preparations.

Counterfeit and illegal pharmaceutical products are an increasing worldwide problem and constitute a major challenge for analytical laboratories to detect and characterize them. Spectroscopic techniques such as infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy have always been the first methods of choice to detect counterfeits and illegal preparations, but due to the evolution in the seized products and the necessity of risk assessment, chromatographic methods are becoming more important in this domain. This review intends to give a general overview of the techniques described in literature to characterize counterfeit and illegal pharmaceutical preparations, focusing on the role of chromatographic techniques with different detection tools.

Detection of counterfeit Viagra® by Raman microspectroscopy imaging and multivariate analysis.

During the past years, pharmaceutical counterfeiting was mainly a problem of developing countries with weak enforcement and inspection programs. However, Europe and North America are more and more confronted with the counterfeiting problem. During this study, 26 counterfeits and imitations of Viagra® tablets and 8 genuine tablets of Viagra® were analysed by Raman microspectroscopy imaging. After unfolding the data, three maps are combined per sample and a first PCA is realised on these data. Then, the first principal components of each sample are assembled. The exploratory and classification analysis are performed on that matrix. PCA was applied as exploratory analysis tool on different spectral ranges to detect counterfeit medicines based on the full spectra (200-1800 cm⁻¹), the presence of lactose (830-880 cm⁻¹) and the spatial distribution of sildenafil (1200-1290 cm⁻¹) inside the tablet. After the exploratory analysis, three different classification algorithms were applied on the full spectra dataset: linear discriminant analysis, k-nearest neighbour and soft independent modelling of class analogy. PCA analysis of the 830-880 cm⁻¹ spectral region discriminated genuine samples while the multivariate analysis of the spectral region between 1200 cm⁻¹ and 1290 cm⁻¹ returns no satisfactory results. A good discrimination of genuine samples was obtained with multivariate analysis of the full spectra region (200-1800 cm⁻¹). Application of the k-NN and SIMCA algorithm returned 100% correct classification during both internal and external validation.

Development and validation of a ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-UV method for the detection and quantification of erectile dysfunction drugs and some of their analogues found in counterfeit medicines

Pharmaceutical counterfeiting is a permanently growing problem. Control laboratories are constantly analysing counterfeit medicines. In industrialised countries, one of the main counterfeited class of medicines are erectile dysfunction drugs. This paper describes the development and validation of a fast method to detect and quantify the three authorised phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors and five analogues. The method is based on the use of a sub-2 microns polar-embedded column with a gradient using acetonitrile as organic modifier and 10mM ammonium formate buffer (pH 3.5) as aqueous component of the mobile phase. The separation was achieved in less than 4.5 min. The method has also been compared to the registered HPLC method for the assay of Viagra(®) which was considered as the reference method. The method is also compatible with on-line coupling mass spectrometry and will significantly reduce analysis times and solvent consumption.

Impurity fingerprints for the identification of counterfeit medicines - a feasibility study

Most of the counterfeit medicines are manufactured in non good manufacturing practices (GMP) conditions by uncontrolled or street laboratories. Their chemical composition and purity of raw materials may, therefore, change in the course of time. The public health problem of counterfeit drugs is mostly due to this qualitative and quantitative variability in their formulation and impurity profiles. In this study, impurity profiles were treated like fingerprints representing the quality of the samples. A total of 73 samples of counterfeit and imitations of Viagra(®) and 44 samples of counterfeit and imitations of Cialis(®) were analysed on a HPLC-UV system. A clear distinction has been obtained between genuine and illegal tablets by the mean of a discriminant partial least squares analysis of the log transformed chromatograms. Following exploratory analysis of the data, two classification algorithms were applied and compared. In our study, the k-nearest neighbour classifier offered the best performance in terms of correct classification rate obtained with cross-validation and during external validation. For Viagra(®), both cross-validation and external validation sets returned a 100% correct classification rate. For Cialis(®) 92.3% and 100% correct classification rates were obtained from cross-validation and external validation, respectively.

Half-fraction and full factorial designs versus central composite design for retention modelling in reversed-phase ion-pair liquid chromatography

In a previous paper (J. O. De Beer, C. V. Vandenbroucke and D. L. Massart, J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal., 12, (1994) 1379-1396) liquid chromatographic (LC) retention modelling of the cough-syrup compounds methyl para-hydroxybenzoate (MPHB) and propyl para-hydroxybenzoate (PPHB), phenylephrine hydrochloride (PE) and chlorphenamine maleate (CPM) was studied using a face-centred central composite design. It is examined whether smaller half-fractional and full factorial designs with fewer experiments tend to reliably predict retention times of the latter compounds as well. Simplified regression modelling, however, neglecting more first-order and interactive effects and disregarding pure second-order effects, has to be set up. These smaller designs finally satisfy the prediction of the retention of MPHB, PPHB and PE also. Retention prediction of CPM is much less accurate. CPM has a pKa value of 4.0, which is encompassed by the examined mobile phase pH limits 3.0 and 5.0. Since the largest retention shifts occur near the pKa value, retention prediction in this area becomes more complex. CPM retention modelling from a full factorial design is useful if the mobile phase pH is fixed at 5.0 for methanol as well as for acetonitrile as organic modifers. The full factorial design, applied with acetonitrile as organic modifer, enables the selection of suitable LC parameter combinations for fast and complete separation of the four compounds in cough-syrup analysis.

Experimental design on liquid chromatographic parameters in the analysis of tetracycline on poly(styrene—divinylbenzene)

A previously described isocratic liquid chromatographic (LC) method for the analysis of tetracycline on poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) allows the complete separation and resolution of tetracycline (TC), 4-epitetracycline (ETC), anhydrotetracycline (ATC) and 4-epianhydrotetracycline (EATC). By means of a half-fraction factorial design, the importance of the individual chromatographic parameters and parameter interactions of this LC method was examined. The influence on the retention of ETC, TC and EATC is measured. A mathematical regression model was derived which predicts retention times with good reliability. Both the retentions of ETC and EATC are strongly affected by chromatographic parameters and parameter interactions, which only slightly affect the retention of TC. Adequate combination of the most relevant of these parameters enables optimization of the chromatographic separation if necessary.