Pharmaceutics And Industrial Pharmacy Laboratory Experiments In Nigeria
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| Centrifuge in Pharmaceutics Laaboratory |
This department is one department I consider unique on its own. The reason I came to this conclusion is that of all the other department in pharmacy, this is the only department without a sister department in the science and the basic medical faculty. Consider;
Pharmaceutical Microbiology (P.M.B) = Microbiology (Faculty of Science)
Pharmacognosy and Traditional Medicine (P.C.G) = Botany (Faculty of Science)
Pharmaceutical Chemistry (P.C.H) = Chemistry (Faculty of Science)
Pharmacology (P.C.L) = pharmacology and therapeutics or toxicology (Faculty or college of Basic Medical)
Clinical Pharmacy and Administration (P.C.A) = Clinical (Basic Medical) and Business Administration (Faculty of Social Science)
Pharmaceutics deals with the process of turning a new chemical entity or old drugs into a medication to be used safely and effectively by patients. It is also said to be the science of dosage form design.
To explain it further, the main active drug in emzor paracetamol is the paracetamol itself. However, this emzor paracetamol has been formulated into the different dosage form for different sets of persons to use. Tablets paracetamol for adults, liquid paracetamol for children, and Intravenous (I.V) paracetamol for unconscious patients.
Drugs need specialized formulation to be able to get to the target site in the body at the right dose or amount.
Read Also: Clinical Pharmacy And Pharmacy Administration Laboratory For Pharmacy Students
Just with the other pharmacy departments, the education of students in this department is achieved with class lectures and laboratory experimental classes. The laboratory classes could be regarded as one of the most difficult as the pass mark of the examination is pegged at 60 % (can you beat that?) Besides, the practical is somewhat complicated. However, it is easy if you know what you are doing.
The laboratory is divided into two. The first laboratory sometimes is known simply as the main laboratory comprises of simple equipment. Nevertheless, that does not make the experiments an easy task. The other laboratory sometimes known as production laboratory/pharmaceutical technology is where the departments’ most expensive equipment is located. Since the laboratory equipment is exactly those used in pharmaceutical industries, the cost of acquiring them is much. The doors and keys to this laboratory are made of gate and iron protector coupled with the heavy padlocks and keys used. Imagine Emzor Company in your school.
General Pharmaceutics And Industrial Pharmacy Laboratory
The experiments in this laboratory are based on producing drugs that are in liquid and semi-solid forms such as solutions, suspensions, emulsions, ointments, creams and suppositories. The major thing is learning how to accurately measure drugs and its excipients following a standard guide by any of the recommended codex for your school. Timing is very important, especially when heating the product to achieve some level of formulation.If you hate calculations, sorry because there is hardly any experiments in the laboratory where the calculation of the right quantity to use is not done. However, the calculations involve scaling up or down formulae. For example, if the codex says to add 10 ml of water to 20 ml of acetaminophen (paracetamol) to a patient and you have four patients. It will be a waste to carry out four preparation. Rather it is simply to increase the quantity of the water by four and the quantity of the paracetamol also. The major problem of the calculation is when a student skip a unit because the water can be in ml (millilitre) and the paracetamol changed to cl (centilitre), which can lead to a wrong result and wrong dose. If such a product hit the market, many drug reactions will be recorded. That is why the pass mark for this is high. According to my lecturer, ‘if a pharmacist makes a single mistake (in drug production), a whole generation may pay for that error.’
After proper mixing, the next thing is to package it in the right container. There are different types of containers for different drugs. Drugs that are very sensitive to heat are package differently than rugs that can survive a wide range of temperature. The container must be suitable for each drug product.
We can’t dispense a drug in its container to a patient like that na. We need to tell the patient or the medical doctor how the drug is to be used by the patient. This is where labeling of the product comes in. Different products have different labeling techniques. Trust me, this part is the most confusing. The problem is compounded by the fact that almost every two years, drug regulatory bodies such as Food And Drug Administration (F.D.A) comes out with completely new methods or techniques of drug labeling. Even two lecturers will teach you different labeling for the same product. To pass the examination learn the method of the lecture that will mark your script. When you graduate, learn the type that you think is best for the patient or the medical doctor.
Experiments In General Pharmaceutics And Industrial Pharmacy Laboratory
There are several products students do in this laboratory. However, the most common one is producing paracetamol using excipients such as colour, binders, sweetener, preservative, etc.Equipment In General Pharmaceutics And Industrial Pharmacy Laboratory
- Mortar and pistils (the symbol of pharmacy in many places)
- Heating mantle
- Balance
- Spatula
- Heater
- Water bath
- Ovens
- Hand dryer
- Suppository mould
Production Pharmaceutics And Industrial Pharmacy Laboratory
This laboratory can further be divided into Pharmaceutical Technology and Research Laboratory. Pharmaceutical Technology Laboratory is usually where solid dosage forms are produced such as capsules and tablets. The process is similar to the drug production process of the general laboratory of liquid and semi-solid drugs. The only thing is that the production process of solid dosage form involves a lot of modern equipment to ease the process and make it effective. The same mixing that is done in the liquid is done here. However, the drugs and excipients are in solid forms. They are filtered and made to be suitable for the machine. If the mixture is not conforming to some standard, the machines will not be able to produce the tablet or capsule.Read Also: Laboratory Experimental Practical Examination For Pharmacy Students In Nigeria
After production, the drug is subjected to a series of test in the Research Laboratory. For example, 500 mg of paracetamol is supposed to weigh 500 mg. if the weigh is less or more, the table is not, and suitable for use (I excluded the fact of excipients weight for new pharmacy students to grasp the concept proper). In addition, if the drug is supposed to dissolve in the stomach after swallowing at a particular time, there is a test to check how fast the drug will dissolve. If the drug dissolves faster than this time, it is bad and vice. There are several other conformity tests for drugs.
Experiments In Production Pharmaceutics And Industrial Pharmacy Laboratory
Experiments In Pharmaceutical Technology Laboratory
- Mixing of drugs and excipients
- Drying using the right temperature
- Capsule filling
- Weighing
- Tableting
Experiments In Research Laboratory
- Weigh conformity
- Dissolution test
- Disintegration test
- Hardness test
Equipments In Production Pharmaceutics And Industrial Pharmacy Laboratory
Equipments Pharmaceutical Technology Laboratory
- Tableting machine (very expensive)
- Hydraulic press
- Sieve shaker
- Tube filling
- Sieve
- Mixer
- Mortar and Pistil
Equipments In Research Laboratory
- Disintegrating test apparatus
- Hardness test apparatus
- Dissolution rate apparatus
- Homogenizer
- Colorimeter
- Viscometer
- Friability
- Centrifuge
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