Shelf Life of Malaria Drug Artemether-Lumefantrine Longer Than Previously Thought, Study Says
The malaria drug artemether-lumefantrine, which is used as an ingredient in some artemisinin-based combination therapies, might have a longer shelf life than previously thought, according to a study published last week in Malaria Journal, VOA News reports. According to the study, AL could be effective for years past its expiration date.
For the study, researchers used thin-layer chromatography and Raman spectrometry to test 70 AL samples that had expired and found that nearly all the samples were still effective. Some of the samples had expired up to 58 months prior to the testing, according to the study. Richard Tren, director of Africa Fighting Malaria and a study co-author, said a more in-depth study is needed to determine AL's expiration date.
According to VOA News, AL previously was thought to be effective for up to two years. Tren said a limited shelf life helps protect patients, adding drug regulators assigned ACTs a two-year shelf life when they were first developed "because we simply didn't know how long [the ingredients] last." He added that drug regulators "want to make sure that the drugs we're getting out there are safe and effective. But now we've been using these drugs in some countries for five or six years, sometimes even longer" (DeCapua, VOA News, 2/26).
The study is available online.
