Drugs in space should be handled with care
According to researchers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas
Drugs intended to treat minor illnesses of astronauts in space may need special handling to remain stable for long periods in the space environment, NASA scientists say.
Researchers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas suggest in the AAPS Journal that some of the pharmaceuticals stored on space flights may have a shorter shelf-life than they do on Earth.
They compared physical and chemical changes in 35 formulations in identical pharmaceutical kits stowed on the International Space Station (ISS) and on Earth and found that after 28 months of stowage in space medications from each flight kit had a lower active pharmaceutical content than the same pharmaceuticals kept on the ground. They also saw no variation in the temperature or humidity levels between Earth and in space.
Dr Lakshmi Putcha and her colleagues suggest that exposure to the chronic low dose of ionising radiation as well as repackaging of solid medications may be contributing factors for pharmaceutical stability in space.
‘It is important to characterise space-specific degradation products and toxicity limits using ground-based analogue environments of space that include proton and heavy ion radiation, vibration and multiple gravity conditions,’ the researchers said.
‘This information can facilitate research for the development of space-hardy pharmaceuticals and packaging technologies.’