Chemical imaging of small molecules from simple to complex matrices: Quantitative approches based on Surface Enhanced Raman scattering

Conference (2013, July)

Surface Enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) allows to dramatically exalt the Raman diffusion of molecules absorbed or very closed to rough metallic surfaces while keeping their structural information. SERS ... [more ▼]

Surface Enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) allows to dramatically exalt the Raman diffusion of molecules absorbed or very closed to rough metallic surfaces while keeping their structural information. SERS chemical imaging, presenting a high specificity and sensibility, allows acquiring a visual representation of samples combining spectral and spatial measurements. This technique could become a powerful tool in pharmaceutical and biological analysis enabling to identify and quantify molecules thanks to chemometric evaluation while looking at their distribution or their interactions. In this context, SERS chemical imaging is investigated in detection or quantitative determination of molecules in pharmaceutical and biological matrices. The feasibility of making quantitative measurements using SERS is evaluated on small target molecules models such as 4-aminophenol and lactate. Firstly, a SERS method to quantify 4-aminophenol which is the primary impurity of acetaminophen coming from its degradation during the storage or from its synthesis was developed on a real pharmaceutical formulation. The standard addition method was selected as calibration method in order to take into account the matrix effect coming from the different components of the latter. Despite the well-known stability and repeatability problems of SERS, the method was thoroughly validated by means of accuracy profiles as decision tool. Moreover, this validation methodology allowed to define a first estimation of the real analytical performance of the technique. Secondly, the detection of lactate, which is a critical metabolite implicated in several metabolic disorders, was successfully tested in the physiological concentration in a simple matrix. Preliminary results for the determination of this metabolic biomarker were also very promising allowing to consider more complex matrices. Based on these results, SERS chemical imaging was implemented to detect 4-aminophenol in a pharmaceutical tablet formerly pulverised by a SERS substrate. Through this imaging technique, it was not only possible to detect the presence of the impurity at the limit of specification of 0.1% (w/w) but it was also possible to differentiate tablets comprising different concentrations of the latter. These promising results represent the first step towards quantitative measurements using SERS chemical imaging. [less ▲]

Development of quantitative approaches based on Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering chemical imaging

Poster (2013, April 18)

Use of Raman spectrometry in the pharmaceutical field

in STP Pharma Pratiques (2013), 23(2), 97-117

This document sets out the theoretical and practical fundamentals to guide users in the imple- mentation of Raman spectroscopy in industry or the university-hospital sector. It describes the principle of ... [more ▼]

This document sets out the theoretical and practical fundamentals to guide users in the imple- mentation of Raman spectroscopy in industry or the university-hospital sector. It describes the principle of this technique and currently available instruments. Since Raman spectrometers are used in a regulated context, the methodology of instru- ment qualification is discussed. Different types of applications encountered in the pharmaceutical field are presented: process monitoring, searching for and detecting counterfeits, and identifying raw materials on receipt. [less ▲]

Intérêt de la microscopie vibrationnelle dans la recherche de nouvelles formulations pharma-ceutiques à haute valeur ajoutée.

Report (2012)

La grande majorité des nouvelles molécules actives présente une faible biodisponibilité dans des formulations pharmaceutiques simples contenant principalement un ou plusieurs constituants et l’actif ... [more ▼]

La grande majorité des nouvelles molécules actives présente une faible biodisponibilité dans des formulations pharmaceutiques simples contenant principalement un ou plusieurs constituants et l’actif faiblement soluble dans l’eau. Dès lors, il est primordial d’investir dans la recherche de nouvelles formulations « plus sophistiquées » (formulations de demain) favorisant la solubilité de l’actif. Cependant cette recherche est limitée par celle de nouveaux outils analytiques pointus permettant de les caractériser, d’étudier les interactions au sein des formulations pharmaceutiques, de comprendre les mécanismes liès à leur formation et in fine de contrôler et garantir leur conformité. Par ailleurs, la Technologie Analytique des Procédés (PAT) est un concept développé par l’Administration Américaine des Aliments et des Médicaments (FDA) et soutenu par l’Agence Européenne des Médicaments (EMA). Ce concept qui devient de plus en plus incontournable (au niveau des dossiers d’Autorisation de Mise sur le Marché). La rapidité de mesure et le caractère non destructif de la spectroscopie vibrationnelle dont fait partie la microscopie Raman la rendent particulièrement compatibles avec ce concept. De plus, les techniques vibrationnelles de part l’absence de préparation de l’échantillon et de l’utilisation de solvant organique rencontrent également le concept de Chimie Verte et donc s’incrivent parfaitement dans un contexte de développement durable et respectueux de l’environnement. L’objectif du présent projet est d’explorer les potentialités de la microscopie Raman dans l’étude pointue des matrices complexes afin d’en améliorer les connaissances tant au niveau de leur charactérisation, des intéractions analyte-matrice que des mécanismes liés à leur formation. L’obtention de ces informations nécéssiteront la recherche de nouvelles méthodologies, outils et règles de décision dédicacés aux aspects qualitatifs et plus encore aux aspects quantiftatifs où l’accès à de telles données est très marginal. L’ensemble de cette recherche sera réalisée sur un modèle complexe, une formulation à haute valeur ajoutée issue de l’industrie pharmaceutique. [less ▲]

Content uniformity determination in silicone-based drug reservoirs by near infrared spectroscopy

Report (2012)

Innovative green supercritical fluid chromatography development for the determination of polar compounds

in Journal of Chromatography. A (2012), 1256

In the context of green analytical chemistry, a supercritical fluid chromatography method was developed. In order to prove the potential of this technology, a worst case was selected, i.e. the separation ... [more ▼]

In the context of green analytical chemistry, a supercritical fluid chromatography method was developed. In order to prove the potential of this technology, a worst case was selected, i.e. the separation of very polar compounds. For that purpose, an innovative methodology based on design of experiments (DoE) and design space (DS) was previously developed and successfully tested on liquid chromatography. For the first time, this methodology was applied to a supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) separation. First, a screening design was used to select the stationary phase and the nature of the mobile phase based on a maximization of the number of peaks eluted and a minimization of the number of co-eluted peaks. Then, a central composite design with orthogonal blocks defined a set of experiments used to model the retention times of each peak at the beginning, the apex, and the end. The gradient slope, the isocratic plateau before the gradient, the temperature, and the concentration of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in the mobile phase were the potentially influential factors. The critical quality attributes (CQAs), i.e. the separation (S) between peaks of the most critical pair, and the analysis time were the responses considered to assess the quality of the separation. The DS was computed as the multidimensional subspace where the probability for the separation and analysis time criteria to be within acceptance limits was higher than a defined quality level. The DS was computed propagating the prediction error from the modeled responses to the quality criterion using Monte Carlo simulations. The optimal condition was predicted at a gradient slope of 3.8% min−1 to linearly modify the modifier proportion between 5 and 40%, an isocratic time of 3 minutes, a concentration of TFA of 25 mM, and a temperature of 60.5 °C. This optimal condition was experimentally tested to confirm the prediction. Furthermore, chromatographic conditions included in the DS and on the limits of the DS were experimentally tested to assess the robustness of the developed SFC method. [less ▲]

Development of near infrared spectroscopic methods using desirability indexes: How to select the most appropriate calibration model

Conference (2012, May 10)

In the last decade, considerable research and developments dealing with near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) have taken place in industrial field, especially in pharmaceutical industry. This enthusiasm can ... [more ▼]

In the last decade, considerable research and developments dealing with near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) have taken place in industrial field, especially in pharmaceutical industry. This enthusiasm can be explained by the fact that NIRS is regarded as promising and attractive tool in Process Analytical Technology (PAT) and Green Chemistry frameworks. Taking into account its non-invasive, non-destructive character, fast data acquisition and the use of probes in on-line, in-line and at-lines, this technique is expected to reach the aims of the latters. However, the development of a NIR quantitative method is not straightforward in comparison with conventional analytical techniques. Its development requires time-consuming reference methods, chemometrics and iterative heuristic approaches to build a model allowing the prediction of the analyte of interest according to the acceptance criteria consistent with the intended use of the method. Facing to the lack of objective decision rule of the traditional chemometric criteria such as R2, RMSEC, RMSECV and RMSEP, it is essential to develop innovative approaches for the selection of the most appropriate calibration model from a models plurality. In this context, a methodology using desirability indexes, such as the Fitting Model Index (FMI), based on tolerance intervals was developed in order to increase significantly the objectivity of the decision process. This latter allows to reduce dramatically the development and the validation steps and thus could ease the implementation of NIR spectroscopy in pharmaceutical industry. [less ▲]

RELIABILITY OF ANALYTICAL METHODS’ RESULTS: A BAYESIAN APPROACH TO ANALYTICAL METHOD VALIDATION

Conference (2012, March)

Methods validation is mandatory in order to assess the fitness of purpose of the developed analytical method. Of core importance at the end of the validation is the evaluation of the reliability of the ... [more ▼]

Methods validation is mandatory in order to assess the fitness of purpose of the developed analytical method. Of core importance at the end of the validation is the evaluation of the reliability of the individual results that will be generated during the routine application of the method. Regulatory guidelines provide a general framework to assess the validity of a method, but none address the issue of results reliability. In this study, a Bayesian approach is proposed to address this concern. Results reliability is defined here as “the probability ()π of an analytical method to provide analytical results within predefined acceptance limits ()X()λ± around their reference or conventional true concentration values ()Tμ over a defined concentration range and under given environmental and operating conditions.” By providing the minimum reliability probability (minπ needed for the subsequent routine application of the method, as well as specifications or acceptance limits ()λ±, the proposed Bayesian approach provides the effective probability of obtaining reliable future analytical results over the whole concentration range investigated. This is summarized in a single graph: the reliability profile. This Bayesian reliability profile is also compared to two frequentist approaches, the first one derived from the work of Dewé et al. [1] and the second proposed by Govaerts et al. [2]. Furthermore, the applicability of the Bayesian reliability profile is shown using as example the validation of a bioanalytical method dedicated to the determination of ketoglutaric acid (KG) and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in human plasma by SPE-HPLC-UV. [1] Dewé W., Govaerts B., Boulanger B., Rozet E., Chiap P., Hubert Ph., Chemometr. Intell. Lab. Syst. 85 (2007) 262-268. [2] B. Govaerts, W. Dewé, M. Maumy, B. Boulanger, Qual. Reliab. Engng. Int. 24 (2008) 667-680. [less ▲]

AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO SELECT THE PREDICTION MODEL IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIR SPECTROSCOPIC METHODS

Poster (2012, March)

Taking into account its non-invasive, non-destructive character and fast data acquisition, near infrared spectroscopy is more and more integrated in production processes to acquire analytical results ... [more ▼]

Taking into account its non-invasive, non-destructive character and fast data acquisition, near infrared spectroscopy is more and more integrated in production processes to acquire analytical results. Implementation of a NIR quantitative method is performed using an iterative heuristic approach that will ultimately build a model allowing the prediction of the concentration of the analyte of interest. In this context, the aim of the present study was to develop an innovative approach based on statistical tolerance intervals and the desirability index FMI (Fitting Model Index) to select the most appropriate prediction model from a list of candidate models instead of using conventional criteria such as R², RMSEC, RMSECV and RMSEP [1-2] without objective decision rules. This new approach is illustrated on different steps of a real pharmaceutical manufacturing process: water and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) determinations in pharmaceutical pellets. Variability sources such as production campaigns, batches, days and operators were introduced in the calibration and validation sets. Partial Least Square (PLS) regression on the calibration sets was performed to build prediction models of which the ability to quantify accurately was tested with the validation sets. Regarding the product specifications, the acceptance limits were set at 20% and 5%, for the moisture and API determination, respectively.As can be seen from Figure 1 and 2, this innovative approach based on the desirability index FMI of the accuracy profile enabled to build and select the most appropriate prediction model in full accordance with its very final goal, to quantify as accurately as possible the analytes of interest. [1] Hubert Ph. et al., J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal., 36, 2007, 579-586. [2] Rozet E. et al., Ana. Chim. Acta, 591, 2007, 239-247. [less ▲]

Reply to the responses on the comments on “Uncertainty profiles for the validation of analytical methods” by Saffaj and Ihssane

in Talanta (2012), 100

Saffaj et al., recently proposed an uncertainty profile for evaluating the validity of analytical methods using the statistical methodology of γ-confidence β-content tolerance intervals. This profile ... [more ▼]

Saffaj et al., recently proposed an uncertainty profile for evaluating the validity of analytical methods using the statistical methodology of γ-confidence β-content tolerance intervals. This profile assesses the validity of the method by comparing the method measurement uncertainty to a pre defined acceptance limit stating the maximum uncertainty suitable for the method under study. In this letter we comment on the response (T. Saffaj, B. Ihssane, Talanta 94 (2012) 361-362) these authors have made to our previous letter (E. Rozet, E. Ziemons, R.D. Marini, B. Boulanger, Ph. Hubert, Talanta 88 (2012) 769–771). In particular, we demonstrate that β-expectation tolerance intervals are prediction intervals, we show that β-expectation tolerance intervals are highly usefull for assessing analytical methods validation and for estimating measurement uncertainty and finally we show what are the differences and implications for these two topics (validation and uncertainty) when using either the methodology of β-expectation tolerance intervals or the γ-confidence β-content tolerance tolerance interval one. [less ▲]