SL12102: Fundamentals of pharmacy: the science of medicines
[Page last updated: 26 October 2023]
| Academic Year: | 2023/24 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Life Sciences |
| Credits: | 15 [equivalent to 30 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 300 |
| Level: | Certificate (FHEQ level 4) |
| Period: |
|
| Assessment Summary: | CWSG 10%, EXCB 90% |
| Assessment Detail: |
|
| Supplementary Assessment: |
|
| Requisites: | |
| Learning Outcomes: |
By the end of the unit, you will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of what constitutes a medicine, the requirements for different dosage forms for different routes of delivery and how the production and quality of medicines is regulated.
2. Describe how the physicochemical properties of molecules and factors such as chemical kinetics and pH affect the properties of medicines and their constituent components.
3. Have detailed knowledge of the pre-formulation and formulation of solid and liquid dosage forms, including their manufacture and factors which influence their performance.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the factors which influence the release of a drug from its dosage form and its subsequent absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination from the body.
5. Demonstrate how the fate and concentration of drugs in the body can be modelled and predicted using basic pharmacokinetic models. |
| Synopsis: | Explore the concept of medicines and the science underpinning their design. Understand how a drug is combined with other molecules to generate a dosage form and how both physical, chemical, and physiological properties affect drug release and absorption following administration via different routes. Learn how pharmacokinetics is used to understand and model drug distribution, metabolism, and excretion, ensuring the right drug is delivered to the right place, at the right dose and rate. |
| Content: | The concept of medicines and dosage forms, brands, generics and the process of medicines development, manufacturing, approval, and regulation.
Acid-base theory, pH and pKa, and its relevance to medicines design.
Buffers and the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation.
Chemical kinetics and its impact on the stability of dosage forms.
Bioavailability, plasma concentration versus time profiles and the therapeutic window.
Pre-formulation - solid form selection, crystallisation and particle engineering, salts and salt selection, polymorphic forms.
Liquid dosage forms, including solutions and suspensions, and methods for solubility enhancement.
Solid dosage forms, including enteric formulations and suppositories, and the role of excipients.
Drug solubility and dissolution rate, immediate- and sustained release forms, and the Noyes-Whitney equation.
Diffusion and partitioning in biological membranes.
Absorption - overview of absorption via different routes and the effect of physiology.
Drug delivery to the GI tract - formulation and physiological requirements, drug absorption through different GI routes and the effects of physiology on enteral absorption.
Drug distribution, metabolism, and excretion.
Pharmacokinetics - IV bolus, IV infusion, extravascular administration. |
| Course availability: |
SL12102 is a Must Pass Unit on the following courses:Department of Life Sciences
|
Notes:
|