Drug counterfeits - Identification via light element isotopic ratios and trace elemental patterns
Name of applicant
Else Holmfred
Title
Researcher
Institution
Stanford University
Amount
DKK 820,000
Year
2022
Type of grant
Internationalisation Fellowships
What?
Drug counterfeits are fake drugs intentionally produced with a commercial outcome. Drug counterfeits are a worldwide problem that yearly causes thousands of deaths due to substitution of the active drug compound(s), limited drug production control, and reduced or no pharmaceutical effect of the counterfeited drugs. Up to 10% of all drugs are counterfeit and this number increases every year.
Why?
Non-visual drug counterfeits (e.g. changes in chemical formula or composition) are particularly challenging to identify due to the lack of chemical methods. I hypothesize that the components and the production method of a drug leave a specific chemical fingerprint. Genuine drugs and counterfeits will have different chemical fingerprints.
How?
In this project, I will combine knowledge and methods from geology to establish a new pharmaceutical methodology to identify and understand drug counterfeits through isotopic ratio and trace elemental analysis. My work anticipates generating new and important chemical approaches to spot non-visual drug counterfeits. Thereby, I aim to improve drug safety and ultimately reduce the number of yearly deaths related to drug counterfeits.