Browsing by discipline "Teollisuusfarmasia"

Ksylitolilla on edulliset käyttöominaisuudet. Edullisista käyttöominaisuuksista huolimatta ksylitolin käyttö lääkevalmisteiden apuaineena on vähäistä. Viime vuosina lääketeollisuudessa on kuitenkin lisääntynyt kiinnostus ksylitoliin ja muihin sokerialkoholeihin. Kirjallisuudesta löytyy vain vähän tietoa ksylitolin puristuvuudesta ja sen soveltuvuudesta tablettien täyteaineeksi. Tässä työssä karakterisoitiin erilaisten ksylitolilaatujen ominaisuuksia ja niiden soveltuvuutta suorapuristuksella valmistettavien tablettien täyteaineeksi. Materiaaleina käytettiin kolmea rakeistettua ksylitolia ja kahta jauhemaista ksylitolia. Ksylitolilaaduista tutkittiin ominaisuudet, joilla on vaikutusta materiaalin puristumiseen. Tutkittavat ominaisuudet olivat kaato- ja tärytiheys, todellinen tiheys, partikkelikoko ja partikkelikokojakauma ja valuvuus. Kirjallisuuden perusteella ksylitoli on lievästi hygroskooppinen, joten tässä työssä tutkittiin myös ksylitolin hygroskooppisuus eri olosuhteissa. Työssä tutkittiin ksylitolin puristuvuutta yksin ja yhdessä huonosti puristuvan lääkeaineen, parasetamolin, kanssa. Eri ksylitolilaatujen puristumista tutkittiin eri-kokoisilla painimilla. Ksylitoli on hyvin soveltuva apuaine myös lapsille tarkoitettuihin lääkevalmisteisiin ja siten tutkittiin myös oliko ksylitolista mahdollista puristaa minitabletteja. Minitablettien käyttö tulevaisuudessa lasten annostelumuotona tulee todennäköisesti lisääntymään. Rakeistetut ksylitolilaadut puristuivat tämän tutkimuksen perusteella suhteellisen hyvin. Jauhemaiset ksylitolit puristuivat huonosti. Syynä näiden huonoon puristuvuuteen oli liian suuri partikkelikoko ja partikkelikokojakauma, joka esti partikkelien välisten sidosten muodostumista. Parasetamoli heikensi huomattavasti kaikkien ksylitolilaatujen puristuvuutta. Ksylitoli ei siis yksinään pysty kumoamaan parasetamolin huonoa puristuvuutta, vaan formulaatioon tarvittaisiin ksylitolin lisäksi jokin yleisesti tablettien suorapuristuksessa käytettävä täyteaine. Tämän tutkimuksen perusteella ksylitoli on hygroskooppinen, mutta vasta suhteellisen kosteuden ollessa hyvin korkea (95 %). Siten ksylitolin hygroskooppisuus ei ole haitaksi ajatellen ksylitolia sisältävien valmisteiden valmistusta tai säilytystä.

Digital technologies have brought new prospects also in pharmaceutical industry and marketing. Communication between different interest groups has become faster and more convenient. There has also been development of new marketing methods utilizing digital technology. E-detailing, mobile applications and social media sites are examples of novel ways to market medicines and disseminate medical information. The aim of this study was to find out how doctors see electronic detailing (e-detailing). The study was carried out by electronic questionnaire, which was answered by 45 Finnish doctors. Doctors who participated in this study had attended e-detailing organized by Pfizer before. Roger's innovation diffusion model was used in drawing up the questions and as theoretical framework of this study. The results of this study showed that doctors regard e-detailing mainly positively and they intend to participate e-detailing also in the future. About one fourth of the doctors, who answered, think that e-detailing is more useful than traditional detailing. In general, doctors do not prefer e-detailing to traditional or group detailing. They also attend e-detailing more seldom than other forms of detailing. In addition, doctors see that e-detailing is more additional value than substitute for traditional detailing. According to this study e-detailing can be a useful tool for pharmaceutical companies mainly because it is a convenient and effective way to contact doctors. The biggest challenges of e-detailing are lack of personality and difficulties in changing timing of arranged detailing sessions. All in all, novel marketing methods may enable that pharmaceutical companies can take doctors' different needs into account. On the other hand, controlling the totality demands that pharmaceutical companies have a functional CRM-strategy and uniform communication.

The purpose of this qualitative material thesis was to describe and summarize the pharmaceutical industry of pharmaceutical company Orion Oyj years between 1899 and 1998 in form of historical study. Previous publications concerning Orion's history have not had precisely industrial point of view. The study is mostly arranged by pharmaceutical forms and additionally some Orion's pharmaceutical products are displayed exemplary and their characters are analyzed. Also development of excipients and package materials are examined briefly. The notices of development of Orion's industrial pharmacy are constantly put into perspective by comparing it to the international industrial pharmacy. Analysis begins in 1899 due to the first finnish pharmaceutical company establishment which also had influences on the starting points of Orion. The study ends in 1998 because of Finland's associaton of European Union in 1995 which also had influences on the Orion's business. The material of the study consist of Orion's public documents including among others Orion's personnel journals, product indexes, sheets, history books and the other produced material of Orion. The material was gathered in the archive of Orion in Espoo during some weeks between October 2013 and Juny 2014. The material of Orion was compared to scientific literature in order to emphasize their worldwide influence. The most of the scientific reference material includes articles but some industrial pharmacy handbooks have been also used because of difficulties of having historical articles. According to the hypothesis the significance of Orion's pharmaceutical industry was minor on the scale of international pharmaceutical industry. The contacts to the foreign industrial countries and compliance with the guidelines of FDA and European Pharmacopoeia were on focus in Orion's aim to accompany international development of industrial pharmacy. One of the important themes in Orion's business was the transform from multi industry to the special industry which was supported by rationalization of production introduced in 1950's. In the context of quality control there have been many projects put in practise especially in 1960's and 1970's, for example the GMP-guidelines introduction, the trading licence system of the pharmaceuticals and the renovations of all the production rooms.Though the pioner of the industrial pharmacy, The United States, was in the quality control even several decades in advance of Finland and consequently Orion. Orion's major products were in the company's program with a licence system. Maybe the most considerable efforts have been made to advance conventional tablet production for example by enhancing equipment and process conditions. Contrary to conventional tablets pharmaceutical formulations like patches and soft capsules have been in Orion's program mainly to complete the company's selection.Some pharmaceutical forms were possible to produce in Orion quite early, for example vaccinations since 1940's and sterile eye drop producing since 1950's. In the last decades of this study, 1980's and 1990's, Orion was focused on the projects like Easyhaler and some own brand name drugs.

Tavoitteet. Työn tavoitteena oli pyrkiä selvittämään, kuinka lääkevalmisteiden ja CE-merkittyjen terveydenhuollon laitteiden ja tarvikkeiden välinen rekisteröintiprosessi ja rekisteröinnin käytännön työ eroavat toisistaan. Hakemusprosessien ja dokumentaation erojen tutkiminen viranomaisvaatimusten ja työn käytännön suorittamisen näkökulmista katsottiin tärkeäksi, jotta on mahdollista vertailla lääkevalmisteiden ja laitteiden välisiä rekisteröintiprosesseja kokonaisuutena sekä tarkastella valmisteen rekisteröintistatuksen vaikutusta rekisteröinnistä vastaavien henkilöiden työmäärään, ajankäyttöön ja työtehtävien sisältöön. Menetelmät. Tutkimus suoritettiin sähköisen kyselytutkimuksen avulla, joka lähetettiin Suomessa toimiville lääkkeiden myyntiluvan haltijoille ja CE-merkittyjen terveydenhuollon laitteiden ja tarvikkeiden rekisteröinnistä vastaaville valmistajille. Kyselytutkimus toteutettiin Helsingin yliopiston verkkolomaketyökalulla, jota hyväksikäyttäen rakennettiin kyselytutkimuksen runko, kerättiin vastausaineisto sekä käsiteltiin tutkimusaineistoa raportointivalmiiksi. Kysymysten sisältö määriteltiin rekisteröinnin jäsenjärjestön julkaisemiin urakuvauksiin sekä yritysten työpaikkailmoitusten työnkuvauksiin perustuen. Kyselytutkimuksen tekninen ja sisällöllinen toimivuus testattiin pilotoinnin avulla. Vastausaineiston sisältöanalyysi suoritettiin kvantitatiivisten tutkimusmenetelmien keinoin. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Lääkevalmisteiden ja CE-merkittyjen terveydenhuollon laitteiden ja tarvikkeiden rekisteröintiprosessit eroavat toisistaan merkittävimmin hakemusprosessien rakenteen ja viranomaistoiminaan osalta, vaikkakin molemmilla sektoreilla perimmäinen tavoite on sama; osoittaa valmisteen teho ja turvallisuus sille aiotussa käyttötarkoituksessa. Hakemusrakenteiden ja viranomaistoiminnan erojen voidaan nähdä olevan perustekijät, joista johtuvat muut rekisteröintityötä ja dokumentaatiovaatimuksia erottavat tekijät, myös käytännön tasolla. Kyselytutkimuksen vastausaineiston perusteella merkittävimmin käytännön työssä vaikuttavat erot liittyivät rekisteröintityön osuuteen kokonaistyöajasta, hallinnollisten tehtävien osuuteen sekä työn sisällön aiheuttamiin vaatimuksiin. Lääkerekisteröintityötä tekevien rekisteröintityön osuus kokonaistyöajasta ja hallinnollisen työn osuus rekisteröintityöstä oli laiterekisteröintityötä tekeviä merkittävästi suurempi. Työn sisällön asettamat vaatimuserot näkyivät muun muassa lääkerekisteröintityössä vastaajien enemmistön farmaseuttisena koulutustaustana ja laiterekisteröintityössä teknisenä koulutustaustana. Kaiken kaikkiaan työssä havaitut erot vaikuttaisivat rekisteröintistrategisesti suosivan valintaa CE-merkityksi lääkinnälliseksi laitteeksi sellaisissa rajatapaustilanteissa, joissa valmiste on mahdollista rekisteröidä joko lääkkeeksi tai lääkinnälliseksi laitteeksi.

There aren't always available suitable authorized drug products for different age and different weight pediatric patients. Hospital pharmacies have to prepare suitable doses and dosage form for these very young patients extemporaneously. In Finland oral powders are usually used in pediatric medication. In previous studies it has been found that part of drug dose sticks to paper of oral powder and the patient doesn't get the entire intended dose. It is suggested that hard capsules may be better dosage form than oral powders, because capsules have smaller area than oral powders, where the powder can stick. The aim of this study was to examine, whether warfarin- and spironolactone capsules prepared by hospital pharmacy meet European Pharmacopeia standards of uniformity of content. Capsules were compounded from commercial tablets and capsulated by Feton-capsulating device. In this study capsules manufactured with automatic capsule filling device attached to analytical balance, oral powders and capsules prepared from pure drug substance were also compared to capsules compounded from tablets. The three month stability of compounded capsules was also examined. In hospital pharmacy many different strengths are compounded from same drug substance, ordered by physician. Ordered strengths can be nearly identical, but whether the small differences in concentration can possibly be prepared in hospital pharmacy is unknown. From both drug substances two strengths with small difference in concentration were prepared and it was studied if statistically significant difference exists. The drug concentrations of preparations were measured by high performance chromatography (HPLC). Aqualab-water activity meter was used to study water activity of samples during the stability testing. Content uniformities of all capsule batches complied with test specified in the European Pharmacopeia.The drug concentrations of capsules were significantly lower than target concentrations. With these drug substances no difference, between the drug concentration of oral powder and capsules, was found. According to this study oral powders can be replaced by capsules. Warfarin and spironolactone capsules remain at least three months, when storaged in room temperature. Warfarin capsules can be prepared accuracy of 0,1 mg and spironolactone capsules accuracy of 0,5 mg.

Nearly one fourth of new medicinal molecules are biopharmaceutical (protein, antibody or nucleic acid derivative) based. However, the administration of these compounds is not always that straightforward due to the fragile nature of aforementioned domains in GI-tract. In addition, these molecules often exhibit poor bioavailability when administered orally. As a result, parenteral administration is commonly preferred. In addition, shelf-life of these molecules in aqueous environments is poor, unless stored in low temperatures. Another approach is to bring these molecules to anhydrous form via lyophilization resulting in enhanced stability during storage. Proteins cannot most commonly be freeze dried by themselves so some kind of excipients are nearly always necessary. Disaccharides are commonly utilized excipients in freeze-dried formulations since they provide a rigid glassy matrix to maintain the native conformation of the protein domain. They also act as "sink"-agents, which basically mean that they can absorb some moisture from the environment and still help to protect the API itself to retain its activity and therefore offer a way to robust formulation. The aim of the present study was to investigate how four amorphous disaccharides (cellobiose, melibiose, sucrose and trehalose) behave when they are brought to different relative humidity levels. At first, solutions of each disaccharide were prepared, filled into scintillation vials and freeze dried. Initial information on how the moisture induced transformations take place, the lyophilized amorphous disaccharide cakes were placed in vacuum desiccators containing different relative humidity levels for defined period, after which selected analyzing methods were utilized to further examine the occurred transformations. Affinity to crystallization, water sorption of the disaccharides, the effect of moisture on glass transition and crystallization temperature were studied. In addition FT-IR microscopy was utilized to map the moisture distribution on a piece of lyophilized cake. Observations made during the experiments backed up the data mentioned in a previous study: melibiose and trehalose were shown to be superior over sucrose and cellobiose what comes to the ability to withstand elevated humidity and temperature, and to avoid crystallization with pharmaceutically relevant moisture contents. The difference was made evident with every utilized analyzing method. In addition, melibiose showed interesting anomalies during DVS runs, which were absent with other amorphous disaccharides. Particularly fascinating was the observation made with polarized light microscope, which revealed a possible small-scale crystallization that cannot be observed with XRPD. As a result, a suggestion can safely be made that a robust formulation is most likely obtained by utilizing either melibiose or trehalose as a stabilizing agent for biopharmaceutical freeze-dried formulations. On the other hand, more experiments should be conducted to obtain more accurate information on why these disaccharides have better tolerance for elevating humidities than others.

The significance of OTC product sales has risen in pharmacies because of lower margins obtained from medicines and thus a fall in the revenue. Manufacturing enterprises must pay particular attention to the success of product launches to ensure that their products end up on pharmacy shelves instead of competitors. The study intended to determine if the known key factors of successful launch also apply when launching a product to pharmacy market and if any of these factors was thought to be the most important one from pharmacists' perspective. In addition it was researched if there would be some important factors to be considered exclusively in product launches to pharmacy market and which factors have the greatest impact on pharmacies decision making about the product selection. The study was conducted as a survey directed to pharmacists, in which just launched D-vitamin product Elivo Vahva+ D50 was used as an example product. As a second part of the study few participants were interviewed by e-mail. According to the study pharmacies are interested in products that fit their selection, in other words, they are proven to be effective and useful for customers. They should bring some added value to the existing selection, to be visually attractive, price-reasonable and with a large enough target group. Representative visits, product visibility in the media, as well as the customers demand have the greatest impact on pharmacies decision making about which products to include to the selection. In addition, belonging to a pharmacy chain often brings with it the obligation to keep certain products in the shelves. Least impact on the decision making was with the electronic newsletter and pharmacy events. Pharmacies profit margin, as well as the possible purchase discounts and OTC products compensation practices are also taken into account in selection decisions. It is important that the company invests in their representatives education and offer reliable product knowledge and sales arguments to pharmacies for example with personnel training or at least in the form of brochures. When deciding the timing of the launch, seasonal variations in sales as well as competitors market entries needs to be taken into account. If it's not possible to be the first in the market, the product needs to have a real added value compared to others.

Suspension is nowadays the most commonly used dosage form in preclinical animal studies. However, suspension can be physically unstable and changes in particle size or crystal form of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) can occur during storage. Conventionally suspensions are also prepared in a mortar, and hence the quality of suspensions is operator-dependent. One of the aims in this study was to prepare suspensions using a mortar and pestle and an Ultra-turrax homogenizer to find out how the preparation method affects the particle size of suspension. A solution containing methylcellulose and Tween 80 was used as a vehicle, and five active APIs with different physico-chemical properties as model drugs. Moreover, an aim of the study was to evaluate the stability of the suspensions stored at room temperature and in the refrigerator and freezer by physical (laser diffraction, optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction) and chemical (high-performance liquid chromatography) methods of analysis. The aim of the study was also to assess and compare the suitability of laser diffraction and optical microscopy for the determination of partice size during preclinical studies. The suspensions prepared using a mortar and pestle and Ultra-turrax had a similar particle size in almost all cases. The particle size of API that was difficult to grind decreased significantly, also when using Ultra-turrax although the capacity used was minimum. Both prepation methods had the best repeatability of particle size when the API was easy to grind. However, Ultra-turrax could provide better homogeneity of quality than a mortar and pestle if the settings were optimized. The effect of different operators was not studied in this study. The stability of suspensions in different storage conditions was dependent on the properties of API. The particle size of all frozen suspensions decreased after two days based on laser diffraction results. Although the reason was not found from literature or supplementary tests (particle size analysis of the vehicle and pH-measurements), freezing of suspensions should be treated with caution based on this study. The crystal structures of APIs remained stabile with the exception of typical disproportionation of the API salt. Suspensions were mainly chemically stabile in all conditions, but water-solubility of API seemed to decrease stability. The micellar solubilization of drugs was also observed. The best way to determine the particle size of preclinical suspensions proved to be the combination of laser diffraction and optical microscopy images. The microscopy images confirmed the validity of the size distributions measured by laser diffraction and provided information about e.g. particle aggregation. On the other hand, optical microscopy image analysis was not suitable method for particle sizing.

The aim of this study was to obtain basic knowledge of the applicability of a Büchi Spray dryer B-290 for inhalation particle production and its process parameters effects on particle physicochemical properties. The possibility to anneal the particles where also studied. The greater goal was to provide some information about the solutes' crystallization tendency related to chosen process parameters. Two active pharmaceutical ingredients, salbutamol sulphate and budesonide, where chosen as model substances. Spray drying is a suspended particle processing system which is widely applied and it has been in use from the 1940s. The processed pumpable liquid which contains chosen substances is dispersed into droplets and dried to produce particles that are later collected. Spray dryer is used to process food, biochemical and pharmaceutical substances. In the field of inhalation particle processing, however, it is rather a new technology. This is because of the quality limitations of inhalable particles and the challenges in process optimization. From the many process parameters the concentration of the solid substances, inlet temperature and concentration of organic solvent were chosen as variables for the conducted experiments due to their apparent effects on product quality and especially on solid state. A rudimentary box-annealing system was studied for spray dried substances to verify their solid state transformation tendencies. Salbutamol sulphate was annealed in a box with 65% relative humidity and budesonide in 74 % and 100% relative ethanol activities. Particle size and size distributions were measured with laser diffraction apparatus, crystallinity was analyzed with powder x-ray diffraction and particle morphology was studied with scanning electron microscope. Salbutamol sulphate turned out to be amorphous and budesonide crystalline when spray dried. Both products were within the inhalable size range (1-5µm). Under the current setup the solid state quality of the products was found dependent on the concentration of the solid substances to some extent. Spray dried amorphous salbutamol sulphate was successfully anneaed to a crystalline material and partly crystalline budesonide was annealed to a more crystalline state. Further studies are needed to utilize the full potential spray drying has to offer for inhalation formulating. The kinetics of the annealing procedure and its dependency on the method used still remain largely unexplored.

Periodontitis is a globally significant disease which destroys the attachment tissues and alveolar bone of teeth, eventually leading to tooth loss. Biofilms, the most intrinsic lifestyle of bacteria, play a pivotal role in the occurrence of this disease. Periodontal biofilms can be treated with topically administered chlorhexidine and strain-specific antibiotics. However, these antimicrobials do not offer solutions for periodontal attachment tissue and alveolar bone loss. Some therapeutical alternatives for these conventional treatments have been investigated. In numerous studies, periodontitis is treated successfully (increased attachment and/or alveolar bone levels) with topically and systemically administered bisphosphonates. Furthermore, a topically administered bone graft substitute (bioactive glass) has shown to improve periodontal parameters. In addition, bioactive glass has known antimicrobial and anti-biofilm effects. Moreover, a few bisphosphonates have shown antimicrobial activity against some bacterial strains. Hence, both bisphosphonates and bioactive glass are promising materials for dental applications, also raising interest in their combination. Indeed, it could be hypothesized that this combination product could simultaneously treat both the underlying cause (biofilms) and consequences (alveolar bone and attachment tissue loss) of periodontitis. Open research questions remain for the combination product. Is the anti-biofilm effect enhanced when bioactive glass is combined with bisphosphonates? Moreover, do bisphosphonates have intrinsic anti-biofilm properties? These questions are investigated in this thesis, which is a continuation of a recent doctoral dissertation. In this dissertation, a clodronate-bioactive glass combination product was studied by applying it into periodontal pockets. However, anti-biofilm effects were not assessed. In this thesis, a close examination is carried out on these effects, utilizing relevant biofilm models. The aims of this work were to investigate anti-biofilm effects of bisphosphonates (alendronate, clodronate, etidronate, risedronate and zoledronate) (i) alone, administered as solutions and (ii) combined with bioactive glass S53P4. Optimization of the used assay methods (96-well plate assay, Static Biofilm method) was performed. The anti-biofilm effects of bisphosphonate solutions were screened in the 96-well plate assay using a model organism Staphylococcus aureus Newman and a periodontopathogen Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans ATCC 33384. After this, experiments were conducted with bisphosphonate-bioactive glass combinations. The experiments were performed with a single-specie (A. actinomycetemcomitans ATCC 33384) dental biofilm model based on the Static Biofilm method. The model mimics conditions encountered by periodontal bacteria in the oral cavity. In this part, bisphosphonate particle sizes were measured to determine a suitable control material. In addition to bacterial experiments, pH measurements were carried out to gain an insight to a possible anti-biofilm mechanism. Bisphosphonates administered as stand-alone compounds did not have an effect on either the Gram-positive model organism (S. aureus Newman) or the Gram-negative periodontopathogen (A. actinomycetemcomitans ATCC 33384). In contrast, most combinations of bisphosphonate-bioactive glass revealed a statistically significant increase in anti-biofilm effect on A. actinomycetemcomitans ATCC 33384. The combinations were compared to a control composed of inert glass and bioactive glass. In these assay conditions, the risedronate-bioactive glass-combination was the most effective (significant statistical difference, p < 0.05). Other combinations also reduced biofilms (significant statistical differences, p < 0.05), with the exception of clodronate-bioactive glass, where the change was not statistically significant. The most effective combinations (containing risedronate and etidronate) subjected the biofilms to a period of low pH. Conversely, the least effective combination (clodronate-bioactive glass) rapidly became alkaline, similarly to the control compounds (inert glass and bioactive glass). Thus, anti-biofilm efficacy could be connected to lowered pH. This observation is supported by recent literature where A. actinomycetemcomitans has been deemed highly sensitive to acidity. However, establishing the anti-biofilm rank order of bisphosphonate-bioactive glass combinations would benefit from experiments with equal bisphosphonate particle sizes.