ABSTRACT
PHOTOSTABILIZATION AS PART OF THE DRUG FORMULATION The primary and secondary packaging of drugs can be used as a very effective means of ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) radiation protection. However, lacking awareness of a photostability problem during the dosing of drugs may result in the removal of the secondary protective packaging and hence, unintentional destruction of the photostabilizing agent ( 1 ). This is particularly important because a survey revealed that even health professionals do not always consider the importance of photoprotection ( 2 ). In the case of epinephrin solutions, a loss of up to 55% of the active occurs by the time the drugs were administered ( 2 ). To protect against such occurrences, it is therefore advisable to eliminate secondary packaging during photostability testing and consider photoprotection as a necessary part of the drug formulation.
