Use of Activated Carbon in Packaging to Attenuate Formaldehyde-Induced and Formic Acid-Induced Degradation and Reduce Gelatin Cross-Linking in Solid Dosage Forms.

Formaldehyde and formic acid are reactive impurities found in commonly used excipients and can be responsible for limiting drug product shelf-life. Described here is the use of activated carbon in drug product packaging to attenuate formaldehyde-induced and formic acid-induced drug degradation in tablets and cross-linking in hard gelatin capsules. Several pharmaceutical products with known or potential vulnerabilities to formaldehyde-induced or formic acid-induced degradation or gelatin cross-linking were subjected to accelerated stability challenges in the presence and absence of activated carbon.