Introduction: Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient
An
active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is the substance in a pharmaceutical
drug that is biologically active. Some medications may contain more than one
active ingredient. The traditional word for the API is pharmacon or pharmakon
which originally denoted a magical substance or drug.
Drug Ingredients
A drug
in the dosage form consists of two ingredients: One is the API, which is the
drug itself, this is the ingredient that treats or relieves the symptoms of the
specific medical conditions; the second ingredient is a substance that acts as
filler in order to give volume and substance to the tablet or drug. It is
called as an excipient, which is the liquid the API is suspended in or is the
substance of the tablet. The excipient is a pharmaceutically inert substance.
Every
drug is defined based on its active pharmaceutical ingredient. It is important
to understand the compatibility of API of one drug with that of the other,
because when patients are on multiple medications, these API can interfere with
each other. This could have effects ranging from minor side effects to serious
repercussions such as life threatening complications.
Pharmaceutical Drugs vs. Herbal Medicines
The
APIs are what differentiate a pharmaceutical drug from herbal medicines. In
case of herbal medicines, the API are not identified, or there are more than
one APIs and in most cases, these APIs although identified cannot be recreated
through chemical or laboratory methods. This prevents standardization of herbal
medicines; in many cases clinical trials do not provide substantial evidence of
positive, or for that matter, any negative effect of a suspected API in herbal
medicines.Thus further leads to complications in labeling. Due to non-existence
of a standard dosage or identified API, the drug effects are interpreted
haphazardly and lose objectivity.
Importance of API
APIs
are the essence of pharmaceutical market and, for that matter, global
healthcare. While there are several challenges faced by API manufacturing
companies in terms of standardization and compliance requirements, there is
equally good number of opportunities such as improved credibility and ability
to penetrate global markets.
API Awareness
Due to
the increased awareness of APIs, and their importance, potential effects and
side effects, several online services have come up with information identifying
the APIs in pharmaceutical medication. An example is the following
website. The authenticity of information
on this website is not guaranteed.
http://www.nps.org.au/consumers/tools__and__tips/medicine_name_finder
Medicine Name Finder.
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