ANALYTICAL DESIGN SPACE STRATEGY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LC METHODS TO COMBAT POTENTIALLY COUNTERFEIT ANTIBIOTIC DRUGS

The poor quality of medicines sold worldwide is a crucial problem of public health. The amount of counterfeit drugs is estimated at 10 % by the Food and Drug Administration. However, astonishing values (80%) were reported in some African countries[1]. One cause of the large diffusion of pharmaceuticals counterfeiting in developing countries is the lack of quality control at different levels (from formulation to delivery); making quite difficult the national regulatory bodies mission of ensuring the monitoring of medicines. Antibiotics are drugs commonly used in Africa and generic analytical methods are needed for the quality control of these medicines.