Oral formulations of ondansetron are used to prevent nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. An oral soluble film formulation of ondansetron (OND OSF) was developed using MonoSol Rx's proprietary PharmFilm technology and was formulated to dissolve rapidly on the tongue, without the need for water. This product provides an oral antiemetic treatment option for patients who experience difficulty swallowing. The purpose of this study was to compare the bioequivalence of OND OSF 8 mg (ZUPLENZ, Monosol Rx, Warren, NJ) with ondansetron orally disintegrating tablets (OND ODT) 8 mg (ZOFRAN, GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park). In 3 individual open-label, randomized studies, healthy adult subjects received a single dose of OND OSF 8 mg and a single dose of OND ODT 8 mg, under fasted conditions (study 1, n = 48), fed conditions (study 2, n = 48), and fasted with and without water (study 3, n = 18). Each dosing period was followed by a 3- or 7-day washout period. Ondansetron pharmacokinetics were assessed predose to 24 hours postdose for the single 8-mg doses of OND OSF and OND ODT. All analyses were conducted on natural log-transformed pharmacokinetic parameters for OND OSF and OND ODT. Under both fasted and fed conditions, the 90% confidence interval for the comparisons of OND OSF and OND ODT plasma ondansetron area under the curve from time 0 to the last measured concentration (AUC0-t), area under the concentration vs. time curve from time 0 to infinity (AUC0-∞), and maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) were within the 80%-125% range, indicating bioequivalence between the formulations. With features designed to make it portable and easy to take, OND OSF 8 mg provides an alternative treatment option, particularly for patients with dysphagia and others who find it difficult to take oral tablets.
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, developed originally for the prophylaxis of tuberculosis, is a potent immunostimulant used to treat superficial bladder carcinoma in man. The aim of this study was to compare the molecular weight and self-association properties of an antineoplastic glucan (PS1A1) extracted from BCG vaccine as determined by different techniques including diffusion, light-scattering and chromatographic methods. In the diffusion experiments, a semi-empirical relationship was derived between the effective diffusion coefficients, Dp, and the weight-average molecular weights, Mw, of several dextrans used as standards, according to the equation Dp = 2.233 x 10(-6) x Mw(-0.66). On the basis of this relationship, the molecular weight of PS1A1 was found to be 57.4 kDa, although, unexpectedly, membrane association was high, most probably because of molecular branching. In the light-scattering experiment it was observed that, unlike dextran, PS1A1 undergoes concentration-dependent multimerization in water. However, the molecular weight of PS1A1 in 0.1 M sodium chloride ranged from 60 to 68 kDa, with a mean of 65 kDa, over the same concentration range. This value was in agreement with the molecular weight determined for PS1A1 by gel-filtration chromatography in previous studies, suggesting that 65 kDa represents the approximate monomeric size of the unassociated molecule. Thus, it was evident that the aggregation was suppressed by electrolyte. Elemental analysis by X-ray fluorescence showed that PS1A1 contained carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and phosphorus, indicating that hitherto unobserved ionized phosphate groups might promote electrostatic interactions.
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