Post-marketing assessment of content and efficacy of preservatives in artemisinin-derived antimalarial dry suspensions for paediatric use

Table 2 Concentration of preservative(s) in dry suspensions after reconstitution

Product/Manufacturer	Active ingredient/Dose	Preservative(s) identified	% preservative found	Normal value in H₂O⁺ (%)
Artenam^®* Arenco, Belgium	Artemether 180 mg/60 ml	Sorbic acid	0.27	0.20
Gvither^® GVS Labs, India	Artemether 300 mg/100 ml	Methylparaben	0.18	0.08
		Propylparaben	0.06	0.02
Artesiane^® Dafra, Belgium	Artemether 300 mg/100 ml	Methylparaben	0.08	0.08
		Propylparaben	0.02	0.02
Alaxin^® GVS Labs, India	Dihydroartemisinin 160 mg/80 ml	Methylparaben	0.09	0.08
		Propylparaben	0.01	0.02
Artexin^® Sphinx Pharma, Kenya	Dihydroartemisinin 160 mg/80 ml	Benzoic acid	0.15	0.10
Santecxin^® Shsj, China	Dihydroartemisinin 160 mg/80 ml	Benzoic acid	0.03	0.10
Cotecxin^®, Jiaxing Nanhu Pharma, China	Dihydroartemisinin 160 mg/80 ml	Chlorbutanol?	Not tested	0.50

* Semi-industrial batch, ⁺ Source: Martindale (The Complete Drug Reference) 1999.

ISSN: 1475-2875