The Daily Bulletin

Please join the Chemistry Department for the final talk of the Spring 2022 Seminar Series, "Identification and Quantitation of Unspecified Impurities Discovered in Novel Oral Irinotecan," presented by Laura Beth Donnelly, M.S. forensic science student at Buffalo State, on Thursday, April 28, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Science and Mathematics Complex 151.

Seminar Abstract
Irinotecan is a cancer medication that was approved for medical use in the United States in 1996. It is currently administered via intravenous injection; however, intravenous dosing has many disadvantages, such as administration by a trained professional in a medical facility, possible severe adverse effects, pain at the injection site, and possible hemolysis if injected too rapidly. Previously oral administration was not feasible because the p-glycoprotein (p-GP) on the cell membrane of stomach cells acts as a defense mechanism against harmful substances by pumping the irinotecan back into the intestinal lumen for excretion. With the discovery of the p-GP inhibitor encequidar by Athenex Pharmaceuticals, the combination of oral encequidar and irinotecan allowed for the convenience of oral administration of irinotecan. However, it was discovered that oral irinotecan tablets contained unspecified impurities that are above 0.2% (w/w). In this presentation, detection, structural identifications, and control of unspecified impurities in the oral irinotecan product will be reported. Analytical techniques used to quantitate and monitor the impurities in the oral irinotecan include high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) equipped with ultraviolet visible light detector (UV-Vis) and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Basic principles and method development via these analytical techniques and other quality control techniques will be discussed.