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INTRODUCTION TO DRUGS AND PHARMACY

Drug
- agent intended for use in the diagnosis, mitigation, treatment, cure, or
prevention of disease in humans or in other animals.
-Examples of drugs:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Mydriatic- dilates the pupil of the eye

Miotic- constricts the pupil of the eye
Emetics- induce vomiting
Antiemetics- prevents vomiting
Diuretic- increases the flow of urine
Expectorants- increase respiratory tract fluid
Cathartics/Laxatives- evacuates the bowel

-The process of drug discovery and development is complex.

Needs the contribution and ideas of many special scientists
-When a new drug is formulated:
o Goes into a lot of identification and characterization
o Basic Pharmacology- nature and mechanism of action of the drug on
the biologic system, must be determined.
o Absorption, Secretion, Metabolism of the drug is also determined
o Route, dose, age, weight, etc. should also be determined
-Dose- the only difference between and drug and a poison
-A medicine does not only consists of API (active pharmaceutical ingredients)
but it also contains non-therapeutic/pharmaceutical ingredients, commonly
known as excipients
-New Drug may be derived from:
o
o
o
o
o

Plant or animal sources

Products or microbial growth
Chemical Synthesis
Molecular Modification
Biotechnology

SOURCES OF NEW DRUGS

1. Naturally occurring materials in both plants and animals
Ex. Ergot, Opium, Curare, Cinchona

Abigail Beatrice H. Lumbao|2DPH|PHAR3-Intro to Drugs and Pharma

2. Synthesis of organic compounds whose structure are closely related to

those naturally occurring compounds
Ex. Morphine (narcotic analgesic), Atropine (antisialagogue),
Cortisone (anti-inflammatory), Cocaine (topical anaesthetics)
3. Pure synthesis in which no attempt has been made to pattern after a
known naturally occurring compounds exhibiting some activity
Ex. Antihistamine, Barbiturates, Diuretics, Antiseptics

Abigail Beatrice H. Lumbao|2DPH|PHAR3-Intro to Drugs and Pharma

PHARMACY
-(gr) pharmakon- charm or drug that can be used for good or for evil
-the art and science of preparing & dispensing medications & the provision of
drug & drug-related information to the public
-study of the science of drugs
-Questions:
o Where they come from?
o How do they act on the body?
o How to turn drugs into medicine?
PHARMACIST
-the one who is educated & licensed to prepare & dispense drugs & to
provide
drug & related information to the public
-an expert on drugs -> acquired knowledge on the chemistry of drugs
o Equipped on the formulation of a medicine
o Equipped on the uses of the medication
PHARMACEUTICS
-discipline of pharmacy that deals with all forces of the process of turning a
new compound or new chemical entity into a medication able to be safely &
effectively used by patients & end users
-looks out for the quality
-Process of a drug:
o
o
o
o
o

Checking of raw materials

Weighing
Mixing
Testing
Filling

DOSAGE FORMS
-Pharmaceuticals

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-defined as a preparation devised to make possible the administration of

medications in measured or prescribed amount
-Route of Administration:
-Oral

-Vaginal

-Topical

-Inhaled

-Rectal

-Ophthalmic

-Parenteralbioavailability

100%

-Otic

-Physical Forms:
-Solid

-Gas- most absorbable

-Liquid

-Others

-Semi-solid
-Common Dosage Forms:
-Powders

-Solutions

-Tablets

-Suspensions

-Capsules

-Syrups

-Liquids

-Elixirs

Dosage- giving of medicine or other therapeutic agent in prescribed amount

Formulation- active ingredients w/ its unit/dose. (i.e. Each 5 mL contains 25
mg Amoxicillin)
Formula- can only be seen in the manufacturing
Shelf-life- refers to the length of time that a drug produced may remain on
the pharmacist shelf in the original packages & under usual environmental
conditions & retain an acceptable level of its potency & overall quality
Stability-refers to the maintenance of the original physical, chemical &
therapeutic properties

FIRST APOTHECARY

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-knowledge of drug and their application to the disease has always meant
power
-person preparing the medication for treatment
-place wherein herbs, spices/wines are stored
-this is where the practice of Pharmacy started/came from
-Drugs during this time are correlated w/ the spirits while Pharmacy
was correlated w/ some religious acts or practices
They believe that the persons sickness is a result of his wrongdoings
or he was possessed by an evil spirit.
-Healer= Priest Physician or anyone who has any knowledge on herbs and
treatment (not only do they heal the body but they also purify or cleanse the
soul)
-Pharmacy and medicine are indistinguishable because the practice
was combined by the healer
-Causes of Failure in Apothecary:
o
o
o
o

Treatment is inappropriate
Drugs are underdosed or overdosed (not exact amt or value is given)
Limited knowledge
Poisoning

-Caused of Success in Apothecary:

o Based on the experience of the priest physician
o Placebo Effect- psychological intervention that one uses up until now.
Why effective? Because they believe that they can be healed
o Natural Healing- the body can heal itself over time
o Mere coincidence (the healer just got lucky)
-Different Vehicles used: Wine, Milk, Honey, Beer
-Polypharmacy- use for broad spectrum of drug; has many ingredients

EARLY DRUGS
1.) Sumerian Clay Tablet
o Worlds oldest record of medicines
o Not only does it have the record of medicines used, it also has
the prescriptions they (Sumerians) had before
2.) Papyrus Ebers

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o Discovered by Georg Ebers (where they got the name of the

scroll), German Egyptologist-> founded the scroll in the tomb of
a mummy
o Now preserved in University of Leipzig
o 60 ft long and foot wide
o 800 formulas/Rx being described and 700 drugs mentioned
o Chiefly botanical, but they also used some drugs that originated
from animals
o Acacia, Castor bean, Fennel
o Iron Oxide, Sodium Carbonate, NaCl and Sulfur
o Egyptians commonly used:
-

Mortar & pestle

Hand Mills
Sieves-use to have uniform particle size of the drug
Balances

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INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC VIEWPOINT

1.)

Hippocrates
Father of Medicine
Introduction of scientific pharmacy & medicine
Rationalized medicine, systemized medical knowledge & put the
practice of medicine on a high ethical plane
Hippocratic Oath of Ethical Behaviour for the healing professions
Term pharmakon came to mean a purifying remedy (for the
good)
Became a part of modern medicine
2.) Dioscorides
First to deal with botany as an applied science of pharmacy
De Materia Medica- milestone for pharmaceutical botany
Pharmacognosy was born (pharmakon- drug; gnosisknowledge)
Opium, Ergot, Hyoscyamus
3.) Claudius Galen
Aimed to create a perfect system of physiology, pathology &
treatment
500 treatises on medicine
250 on philosophy, law & grammar
Galenic Pharmacy
Most famous formula: Galens Cerate (aka Cold Cream)
4.) Emperor Frederick II of Germany
Separated the practice of Pharmacy and Medicine on 1240 at Two
Sicilies
Pharmacist were obligated to oath to prepare reliable drugs of
uniform quality according to their art
Pharmacy and Chemistry became united since then
5.) Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus van Hohenheim
Paracelsus
Botanical science -> chemical science
It was possible to prepare a specific medicinal agent to combat
each specific disease
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EARLY RESEARCH

1.) Karl Wilhelm Scheele

Most famous of all pharmacists
Identified glycerin
Invented new methods of preparing calomel and benzoic acid
Discovered Oxygen
2.) Friedrich Seturner
Isolated morphine from opium

3.) Joseph Caventou and Joseph Pelletier

Isolated quinine, cinchonine from cinchona
Isolated strychnine, brucine from nux vomica
4.) Pelletier and Pierre Robiquet
Isolated caffeine
5.) Pierre Robiquet
Separated codeine from opium
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-Paclitaxel (Taxol)- antitumor that came from Pacific Yew

Tree (Taxus baccata)

-Vincaleukoblastine- antineoplastic from Vinca rosea

-Digoxin- cardiac glycoside from Digitalis lanata

-During Revolutionary War, drugs were difficult to import

-Revolutionary WarCivil War- pharmaceutical manufacturing

was at its infancy

-1821- Philadelphia College of Pharmacy- nations first school

of Pharmacy was created

To aid in establishing standards for drugs in the United

States

- DRUG STANDARDS
-

The USP & NF

-pharmacopeia- pharmakon (drug) & poiein (make)

-> any recipe or formula or other standards required to

make or prepare a drug

-the term was first used in 1850 in Bergamo, Italy

-Great Britain: 3 city Pharmacopeias- London, Edinburgh,

Dublin

1864- British Pharmacopeia was made

-America:

o Drug standards were used as national basis until the year 1820 came
when the first USP was published

o First American Pharmacopeia: Lilitz Pharmacopeia (1778; Lilitz,

Pennsylvania) -> used by the Military Hospital of the United States
Army
32 page booklet that contains 84 external & 16 internal
drugs and preparations
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-1808- Massachusetts Medical Society published a 272-page

pharmacopeia containing information or monographs on 536
drugs and pharmaceutical preparations

-January 6, 1817- Lyman Spalding, the Father of USP,

submitted to the Medical Society of the County of New York a
plan that would make or create a national pharmacopeia

-January 01, 1820- first United States

Convention happened at Washington, DC

-December 15, 1820- first USP was published in English &

Latin and later on in other language so that the other
nationalities can understand

Pharmacopeial

o 272 page and contains 217 drugs

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-Massachusetts Pharmacopeia- precursor of the USP

-First agreed that the USP would be revised every TEN years.
During 1940, it was changed into FIVE years

-First USP Convention- attendees before were physicians ONLY.

Around 1830 & 1840- they started inviting pharmacists

-1850- Pharmacists were given full recognition to attend the

Convention

-Before 1820- drugs to treat disease had been the same for
centuries (The USP somewhat changed the perception)

-1880- RPh were already relying on commercial sources for

drug supply. Synthetic organic chemistry began to have its
influence on drug therapy

-1910- start of an era of chemotherapy (arsphenamine, a

specific agent against syphilis was introduced to the medical
field)

Paul Erlich & sahachiro Hata discovered the agent

- -1852- American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA) was

organized

- NATIONAL FORMULARY OF UNOFFICIAL PREPARATIONS

- -First Ed. Was published in 1888
- -changed to National Formulary on June 30, 1906 by Theodore
Roosevelt when he signed the Pure Food and Drug Act
- -Before 1940- revised every TEN years, after that year, it was
revised every FIVE years
- **products- refers to manufactured drugs
- **preparations- refers to compounded drugs
- OTHER USP MADE

Spanish Pharmacopeia- 2006

Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States (HPUS)- ensures the
quality of homeopathic drugs
International Pharmacopeia (IP)- WHO; made to modify their
pharmacopeias according to international standards
UK, France, Italy, Japan, India, Mexico, Norway, China USP
European Pharmacopeia

- COMPREHENSIVE DRUG ABUSE

AND CONTROL ACT OF 1970

PREVENTION

- -An Act served to consolidate and codify control authority over

drug of abuse into a single statue
- -Established five (5) schedules for the classification and
control of drug substances that are subject to abuse
1.) Schedule I
Drugs with no accepted medical use
Substances with high potential of abuse
Heroin, LSD, mescaline, peyote, methaqualone, marijuana
2.) Schedule II
Drugs with accepted medical uses and a high potential for abuse,
may lead to severe psychologic or physical dependence
Morphine, cocaine, methamphetamine, amobarbital
3.) Schedule III
If abused, it may lead to moderate psychologic or physical
dependence
Specified quantities of codeine, hydrocodone
4.) Schedule IV

Low potential for abuse, may lead to low psychologic or physical

dependence
Specified quantities of diphenoxin, diazepam, oxazepam
5.) Schedule V
Specified quantities of dihydrocodeine, diphenoxylate
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- FDA Pregnancy Categories

- -The FDA has established five (5) categories that can be used
to estimate the potential of a systemically absorbed drug for
causing birth defects
1.) Category X
Strongest
May be implicated as a teratogen and the risk benefit ratio does
not support the use of the drug
2.) Category A
No risk in to the fetus
Studies have failed to show the risk to the fetus on the first
trimester
3.) Category B
No risk to animal reproduction studies
No adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women
4.) Category C
Animal reproduction studies have shown an adverse effect on the
fetus
5.) Category D
There is positive evidence of human fetal risk
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- BLACK BOX WARNING

Strongest labeling requirements for high-risk medicines
All anti-depressant medications
Most serious warning
Ads are not allowed

- DRUG PRODUCT RECALL

A product recall may be initiated by the FDA or by the manufacturer

(voluntary recall)
1.) Class I

 Exposure to the product will cause serious adverse health

consequences or death
2.) Class II
Exposure to the product may cause temporary or medically
reversible adverse health consequences
Probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote
3.) Class III
Exposure to the product is not likely to cause adverse health
consequences
-