William Brown and Margareth Marques
The following questions
have been submitted by readers of Dissolution Technologies. Margareth
Marques, Ph. D. and Will Brown, United States Phamacopeia, authored
responses to each of the questions.
*Note: These are opinions and interpretations of the authors,
and are not necessarily the official viewpoints of the USP
Email for correspondence:
web@usp.org
Q
The certificate that accompanies the USP
Prednisone Tablets RS says that if the equipment
has fewer than 12 positions, Step 1 should be
repeated with an additional set of tablets. If a
dissolution apparatus with six or eight vessels are
being evaluated, should the test be carried out with
two sets of tablets?
A
For test assemblies with not more than eight vessel
positions, the Performance Verification Test (PVT) using
USP Prednisone Tablets RS, lot Q0, can be performed as
either a two-stage or a single-stage procedure. The choice
of performing the single- or two-stage procedure must
be made in advance of the test and will be based on the
experience that the laboratory has gained on the quality
of performance of the test assembly. Both procedures
can use as many as 2X tablets, where X is the number of
positions. For a six-position test assembly, 2X would be
12 tablets tested. The two-stage procedure allows a stop
at 1X if the criteria are met. For the six-position assembly,
that would be after only six tablets are tested (one tablet
in each vessel). For the two-stage procedure, if the criteria
after Stage 1 are not met, six additional tablets are tested.
The single-stage procedure goes immediately to 2X or 12.
Q
We are testing an immediate-release product
with two components. At the S1 testing level,
only one component satisfies the criteria. Should S2
testing be conducted for both components?
What about S3? Is there any difference if both
components are tested by the same procedure?
A
If both components are tested by one dissolution
procedure, then the procedure is repeated with the
number of additional units required for the next stage
(e.g., 6 for S2 and 12 for S3). You would follow the test
procedure at each successive stage. For the later stages,
you would only need to report the percent dissolved for
the component of interest at that stage. If a different
dissolution procedure is used for each component, then
the testing is independent. However, the final results are
linked in that the product is evaluated on the basis of all
requirements.
Q
I have an extended-release product that does
not meet the requirements for the L1 stage of
testing at only one time point. Must I repeat the
test, level L2, only for the failing time point?
A
For an extended-release product, each level of testing
includes all time points.
Q
What is the USP recommendation for the
dissolution testing of implantable pellets? We
have two pellet products with an expiration of
approximately 4—6 months. Any insight you could
provide on recommended buffers and referenced
calculations would be appreciated.
A
Currently, USP has one pellets monograph, Estradiol
Pellets, but it does not contain a dissolution or drug
release test. Quality control of drug release from
implantable products designed to release over a long
period of time relative to tablets or capsules presents an
issue in method development. Any in vitro test would
have to challenge the product in an accessible time frame,
and the test conditions would have to be discriminative.
The FDA has a dissolution database that may be
consulted to determine if other similar products have
registered a test method (
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/dissolution/index.cfm).
Q
We have performed the dissolution profiling
of one lot of tablets from a U.S. innovator and
have found that the results are borderline when
compared with the USP limits. How can this product
still be on the market?
A
A product will be expected to meet USP standards
during its shelf life on the market. However, storage and
handling variables may affect the performance and quality
of the product and may only represent the performance of
the sample at hand. That is the reason that the labeling will
advise storage conditions. From the USP General Notices,
“statements about whether the compendial standard is
met apply only to the units tested.” Furthermore, regulatory
agencies have mechanisms through which they monitor
the marketplace and work with manufacturers to ensure
the quality of drug products.
Q
The USP dissolution test in the potassium
chloride extended-release tablets monograph
said to dilute the 2-h sample so that it contains
60 μg/mL of potassium chloride. What is the actual
concentration in the dissolution medium after 2 h?
A
The analytical procedure requires that the sample and
standard concentrations are comparable, and in the
procedure that you cite, the dissolution sample is diluted
to 60 μg/mL of potassium chloride prior to further
manipulations. Because the concentration of the sample
is the variable of interest in the performance test for the
dosage form, it will not be known prior to analysis. The
appropriate dilution will have to be determined by
trial and error starting with what is known, label claim,
and medium volume. However, as the analyst gains
experience with the product performance, the
appropriate dilution can be anticipated. It should be
understood that the performance of the unknown
sample cannot be known by USP even though the
tolerances have been set.
Q
During a recent dissolution run, our lab lost
power. The autosampler had a UPS that allowed it
to continue sampling but the paddles stopped
turning. At some point, power was restored and the
paddles started turning again. Can we use the
results for the samples taken while the paddles
were not turning? Is there a maximum time that
power disruption to the baths is allowed for the
tests to be valid?
A
The description of Apparatus 1 and 2 as well as the
procedure indicates that the apparatus is operated at the
specified rate within a range of 4%. If the rotation stops,
the test does not conform to the expectations.
The underpinning of the dissolution test is that solubility, medium, formulation and manufacturing variables, and agitation will affect the observed dissolution rate. With a specified dissolution test system (medium, drug solubility, and agitation), the performance of the sample should be the main variable under investigation. Where the agitation is discontinuous, the effect on the observed dissolution rate becomes an overarching concern. The samples taken while the paddles were not powered, and even those taken after power was restored, are of little value.