PS 1 A

• dosage form/ drug product

  how a drug is administered, tablet, capsule etc
• drug substance

  active ingredient
• Modern Western medicines principles

  based on pure drug substances which are developed using scientific procedures and formally tested in clinical trials.
• where are many western medicines derived from

  plants, fungi and marine organisms (natural product substances). these are screened for biological activity and chemically modified (biopharmaceuticals) then produced using biotechnology. other produced by full chemical synthesis, designed to interact with targets in the body.
• biopharmaceuticals

  pharmaceuticals that come from a biological source rather than chemical synthesis
• full chemical synthesis

  synthesis of a complex molecule from smaller parts, completely creating a chemical
• natural product substances

  biological materials, substances that are organic and organically produced
• drug administration

  how drugs get into the body / administered.
• methods of drug administration

  ocular, buccal, sublingual, oral, intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous, transdermal, pulmonary/nasal, vaginal/rectal
• ocular administration

  into the eye. drops/bioadhesives (a natural derived sort of glue) chlorsig
• buccal delivery

  a drug product is placed between the cheek and the gums where it dissolves and enters the blood vessels. mucoadhesive, spray, tablets. insulin nanoparticles
• sublingual delivery

  drug product is placed under the tongue and dissolves and enters blood vessels. tablets. loratadine
• oral delivery

  a drug product is placed in the mouth and swallowed whole or chewed then swallowed. the drug breaks down in the stomach and is absorbed in the stomach and intestines and into blood. capsule and pills. antibiotics
• intravenous delivery


  a drug product is injected into a vein. iron/ferinject
• intramuscular delivery

  a drug product is injected into a muscle. depot. B12 injection
• subcutaneous delivery

  drug product is injected into the fatty tissue just under the skin. depot or implant. hormonal contraceptive implant bars.
• transdermal delivery

  drug product is placed on the skin and absorbed into the blood through the skin. patch, cream, spray. nicotine patch
• pulmonary/nasal delivery

  the drug product is inhaled into the nose or mouth, and absorbed by the alveoli in the lungs. aerosol/spray. asthma puffers and allergy nasal sprays
• vaginal/rectal delivery

  drug substance is placed inside vagina or rectum and breaks down and is absorbed into blood. gel/suppository. Canesten vaginal thrush cream and paracetamol suppository. may be a product that can't survive in stomach acid
• common dosage forms

  gasses, solids, semi-solids and liquids. gases and vapours (anaesthetic), powders (antibiotic powders for solutions), capsules (antibiotics), tablets (rosuvastatin), suppositories (paracetamol), drug-eluting implants (contarceptive bar). semi-solids - creams, ointments, pastes, gels, (hydrocortisone cream) solutions, suspensions and emulsions (prednisolone solution)
• powder definition

  dry mixtures of finely divided substances
• capsule definition

  encapsulated mixtures of powdered substances
• tablets definition

  compressed mixtures of powdered substances
• suppositories definition

  drug dispersed in a solid base that melts at body temperature and or dissolves
• solution definition

  drug and excipients all in a homogeneous, single-phase solution, viscous or non-viscous
• suspensions

  fine particles of drug substance suspended in liquid. may be because the drug it is not soluble
• emulsion

  ingredients divided between fine droplets of oil and water so that non-soluble substances can dissolve in water
• drug substance


  active pharmaceutical ingredient API, the substance in a medicinal product that is responsible for the product's pharmacological and therapeutic effects
• excipient

  a pharmacologically inactive ingredient in a drug product (anything other than the active ingredient)
• drug product

  finished medicinal product containing one or more drug substances and one or more excipients that has been designed to deliver the drug substances to the body
• pharmaceutics

  the science of dosage form design. deals with the process of taking a drug substance and turning it into a medicinal product used to deliver the drug to a patient safely and effectively
• biopharmaceutics

  the study of how the physical and chemical properties of the drug substance, the dosage form and the route of administration affect the location, rate and extent of drug absorption.
• bioavailability

  the percentage of an administered dose of a drug that reaches the systemic circulation intact.
• extemporaneous compounding

  the preparation, mixing, assembling, packaging and labelling of a medicinal product. typically carried out by a pharmacist when suitable commercial medicinal products are unavailable or do not meet the patient's needs (like older patients with trouble swallowing or young children). usually in small batches for individual patients
• Active ingredients in drugs are typically highly purified, synthetic, organic chemicals with a molecular weight less than 500 daltons to allow diffusion through membranes
• Active ingredients dissolve in aqueous fluids to some extent and dissolve through the cell wall to exert an effect on the body
• Active ingredients usually contain one or more polar or ionisable functional groups capable of hydrogen bonding to target receptors to exert an effect
• Active ingredients are usually weak bases, weak acids, or both, although some are non-ionisable
• About half of drugs are salts of bases or salts of acids
• The choice of salt depends on the physical and chemical properties of the salt and its suitability for formulation and manufacture