Abstract
OZAGREL Na Injection “MEEK” 80 mg (MEEK), a generic version of sodium ozagrel, was developed as an injectable solution. Since the dose of sodium ozagrel for the treatment of acute cerebral infarction is usually 80 mg, MEEK should have an advantage over the branded product when preparing admixtures of sodium ozagrel for drip infusion as its content is 80 mg. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the usefulness of MEEK in terms of advantages as regards ease of admixture preparation, recovery, custody volume, and medical waste volume, in comparison with XANBON Injectable 40 mg (Xanbon) as the control. When 5 skilled pharmacists transferred MEEK (1 ampoule) and Xanbon (2 vials) into a 250 mL saline bottle, it took 52.0 sec for the former and 87.7 sec for the latter, implying that MEEK significantly shortens admixture time. The recovery of sodium ozagrel from the MEEK ampoule was almost 100% whereas that from the Xanbon vials was about 96%. Assuming that patients with acute cerebral infarction use sodium ozagrel for two weeks, it was shown that the custody volume for MEEK was about 20 % less than that for Xanbon and there was a reduction of around 43 % in the amount of medical waste in the case of not separating it. Further, the medical waste arising through the use of MEEK was only glass while that arising from the use of Xanbon included, plastic, rubber and aluminum as well as glass. These results suggest that MEEK is a useful product for the preparation of sodium ozagrel injectable solution in the hospital pharmacy.
