Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common illness characterized by heartburn and/or regurgitation symptoms with the highest occurrence found in North America. There exist three main categories of anti-GERD medications: proton-pump inhibitors, H2 receptor antagonists, and antacids. Out of these, the World Health Organization places omeprazole (proton-pump inhibitor) and ranitidine (H2 receptor antagonist) as essential medications used in the treatment of ulcers and GERD related symptoms. Because of its large market, there exists reports of falsified (contains no active pharmaceutical ingredient) and substandard medications (contains less or degraded active pharmaceutical ingredient). This research focuses on the creation of a Paper Analytical Device (PAD) to screen and identify the API omeprazole inexpensively and reliably. Different colorimetric reagent tests are used on the PAD to detect the various APIs and select excipients found in genuine tablets. These PADs are able to differentiate between the API of various anti-GERD medicines, including cimetidine, ranitidine, famotidine, and omeprazole. The research presented will focus on the results of these PADs run on omeprazole samples collected in Nepal in the Summer of 2019. 135 omeprazole samples were collected from four different regions of Nepal, including the Kathmandu, Pokhara, the Southern Region (near India border) and the Southwest Region. The PADs results were validated via HPLC (the current ‘gold-standard’) and compared with handheld RAMAN spectroscopy (another quick, reliable means of in-situ identification of API in medicines).

Creating a device to detect substandard omeprazole medicines

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.