Forced Degradation Studies Can Reduce Stress(ors)

Forced Degradation is an important addendum to our previous post on Stability and Storage. Stressors are applied to new APIs and drug products to determine their degradation pathways and products under a variety of environmental conditions, including acid, base, light, heat, and oxidation. Forced degradation studies are also known as stress testing, stress studies, stress decomposition studies, and forced decomposition studies. These conditions “…are more severe than accelerated (stability) conditions and thus generate degradation products that can be studied to determine the stability of the molecule.”1  

Regulatory requirements for forced degradation were enacted by the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) in 1993.2   However, these guidelines are very general in (the) conduct of forced degradation and do not provide details about the practical approach towards stress testing. Although forced degradation studies are a regulatory requirement and scientific necessity during drug development, it is not considered as a requirement for (a) formal stability program.”1 However, stability studies have become a requisite for new drug moieties. In the absence of specific guidelines, the amount of stress needs to be representational: “Overstressing a molecule can lead to degradation profiles that are not representative of real storage conditions and perhaps not relevant to method development. Therefore, stress-testing conditions should be realistic and not excessive.”3 

AMPAC Analytical (AAL), an SK pharmteco company, can assist with forced degradation studies for products at all phases of development, in tandem with stability, storage, and method development, to ensure the viability of the drug products as they were designed. We introduce forced degradation studies early in method development to ensure your product quality throughout the development lifecycle. Contact AAL today to learn more.  

References 

  1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095177913001007 
  2. http://www.columbiapharma.com/reg_updates/international/ich/q1a.pdf 
  3. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dan-Reynolds-3/publication/279607256_Available_Guidance_and_Best_Practices_for_Conducting_Forced_Degradation_Studies/links/5afd6a2ca6fdcc3a5a44c50f/Available-Guidance-and-Best-Practices-for-Conducting-Forced-Degradation-Studies.pdf 

Learn more: https://ampacanalytical.com/laboratory-services/stability-program/