Radiofrequency Methods For The Non-Invasive, Non-Destructive Detection And Quantitative Analysis Of Counterfeit, Fake And Substandard Medicines. (360G-Wellcome-092009_Z_10_Z)

Counterfeit, fake and substandard medicines constitute a fast-growing threat to public health, for example, the use of substandard medicines can lead to fatalities, and the emergence of medicineresistant forms of infectious agents. Current estimates are that around 1% of medicines in developed countries, and 10 30% of medicines in developing countries, are counterfeit1. This project aims to develop a robust, economical, user-friendly and portable instrument for the non-invasive, non-destructive, quantitative and highly-specific testing of packaged pharmaceutical products, principally, but not exclusively, cartons, bottles and blister packs that will aim to give the operator an answer in a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the medicine and quantity without the need to open the pack. The instrument will operate using nuclear quadrupole resonance (QR) a radiofrequency (RF) spectroscopic technique that can detect signals through multiple layers of cardboard, glass, plastic and/or wood. QR can analyse any compound containing a quadrupolar nucleus, and, in particular, it is ideally suited for the analysis of compounds containing nitrogen, chlorine or bromine, sodium and potassium, which includes over 80% of all medicines.2 Science 7 This technology-transfer project will take this technology to the advanced demonstrator stage and serve as a springboard to commercializing the approach through licensing the technology to a commercial manufacturer or establishing a spin-out company. The key to the proposed research is that QR signals from the same nucleus have different frequencies, shapes and widths according to, for example, the molecular structure of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), the method used to prepare the API, the crystal size, number of crystal defects, the nature or quantity of impurities present and the age of the material and temperature at which it has been stored; meaning that impure, counterfeit or substandard versions of the same medicine can be distinguished and classified without the need to know what other components are present in the pill formulation.