Utrecht: New approach to testing drug contaminants

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A Dutch researcher, Roelof Mol, has devised a new method for accurately testing the composition of medicines by combining two analysis techniques that were previously considered to be incompatible.

By combining the separation technique electrokinetic chromatography with the detection technique mass spectroscopy, Mol has developed an extra quality control mechanism for testing the active ingredient and excipients in medicines, and detecting any contaminants.

Using the combined technique to measure contaminants in pharmaceutical samples it proved possible to measure contaminants to within the 0.1 per cent level, which means the method satisfies regulatory requirements.

The standard technique for determining harmful contaminants in medicines is high performance liquid chromatography. Mol believes that linking the separation technique electrokinetic chromatography to the detection technique mass spectroscopy provides a good alternative. Mol worked in collaboration with the pharmaceutical companies Solvay and Organon, which have expressed interest in the system.