In this week's C&EN, a really cool interview (article by Dalmeet Singh Chawla):
An estimated 10% of medical products in low- and middle-income countries are either falsified or substandard, according to the World Health Organization. It’s particularly difficult in low-income regions to quickly and easily spot subpar medicines and identify their flaws.For years, chemist Marya Lieberman of the University of Notre Dame and her team have been developing analytical paper diagnostics that are a cheap, effective, and easy-to-use way of determining whether drug tablets contain the correct medicines. They now want to use the tools they’ve developed to aid harm reduction programs locally and to inform regulators internationally.Lieberman and her colleagues sell multilane test cards called paper analytical devices (PADs) on their online store. After placing a drug sample on the PAD, users can read the card’s color-based results using an Android application also made by Lieberman’s team.Lieberman and her colleagues sell multilane test cards called paper analytical devices (PADs) on their online store. After placing a drug sample on the PAD, users can read the card’s color-based results using an Android application also made by Lieberman’s team.
I think this is so cool, and I'm so pleased that someone is tackling this problem with simple chemistry. Read the whole thing!
When I worked for a generic drug company on a shoestring budget, thin layer chromatography was a useful tool to compare a batch to a USP standard of a drug molecule. I always thought TLC was strictly a teaching tool for undergrad labs, and was surprised to see how useful a cheap, low-tech analytical technique was.
ReplyDeleteI worked on a project decades ago helping pharmacists in Africa use TLC to confirm the active ingredient in AIDS drugs was really there, a huge problem at the time.
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