LONDON, September 11 /PRNewswire/ --

Research shows new technology can identify counterfeit drugs in minutes A
leading UK expert in analysing pharmaceutical compounds has demonstrated that
US-based technology can identify fake medicines in minutes. Traditional
technology, based on large, laboratory-based methods, takes hours and
sometimes days of intensive work. Presenting his research at the British
Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester, Professor Tony Moffat said:
"This new technology allows analysis from a scraping rather than from a whole
crushed tablet (which saves time and effort) and can identify counterfeits in
real time - two important benefits over existing technology - that offers
wholesalers, regulators and governments the opportunity to up-scale their
efforts to detect fake drugs that are increasingly entering the supply
chain." Professor Moffat is Head of the Centre for Pharmaceutical Analysis at
the University of London's School of Pharmacy. Identification of a fake drug
by visual examination is almost impossible. Increasingly, international and
national regulators, law enforcement personnel, pharmaceutical companies and
wholesalers are looking for ways of reducing counterfeits entering the supply
chain. Recent examples of counterfeits entering the UK supply chain include
Plavix (to prevent blood clotting), Casodex (for prostate cancer) and Zyprexa
(for psychosis). The technology, called Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART),
produces an almost instantaneous reading of the chemical composition of the
outer coating of a tablet - or of its core composition - based on a scraping
of the tablet. Traditional analytical techniques require tablets to be
crushed to a powder and processed before they can be assessed. Reference
number: Science 01 To test the potential of DART technology, Professor Moffat
and his team analysed authentic Cialis (a treatment for erectile dysfunction)
tablets which contain an active ingredient called tadalafil, bought from
pharmacies in London, and compared them with known counterfeit Cialis tablets
provided by the Korean Food and Drug Administration. The film coating of the
authentic drugs contained a signature chemical that was detected by DART in
all instances. DART correctly excluded all the counterfeits because of this
signature chemical. Moreover, when a scraping of the tablets was used to
examine the core composition of the tablets, DART revealed that none of the
counterfeits contained tadalafil. Instead, they contained the active
ingredient of Viagra, sildenafil. Professor Moffat said: "DART clearly
differentiated the authentic from the counterfeit preparations within a few
minutes. This technique is minimally destructive and gives accurate and quick
readings. There is great potential for this technology to be used more widely
in efforts to reduce the market fake medicines."

Notes to Editors The British Pharmaceutical Conference - entitled "The
medicines maze: balancing risks and benefits" - takes place from 10th to 12th
September, 2007, at Manchester Central (formerly Manchester International
Convention Centre). The theme of BPC 2007 is reflected throughout the
programme, with keynote speeches and workshops addressing crucial technical
and professional issues that are facing pharmacy today. The conference will
showcase the latest developments in pharmaceutical science and practice
research and include discussion and debate led by expert speakers.