title: Stability profiles of drug products extended beyond labeled expiration dates.
abstract: The American Medical Association has questioned whether expiration dating markedly underestimates the actual shelf life of drug products. Results from the shelf life extension program (SLEP) have been evaluated to provide extensive data to address this issue. The SLEP has been administered by the Food and Drug Administration for the United States Department of Defense (DOD) for 20 years. This program probably contains the most extensive source of pharmaceutical stability data extant. This report summarizes extended stability profiles for 122 different drug products (3,005 different lots). The drug products were categorized into five groups based on incidence of initial extension failures and termination failures (extended lot eventually failed upon re-testing). Based on testing and stability assessment, 88% of the lots were extended at least 1 year beyond their original expiration date for an average extension of 66 months, but the additional stability period was highly variable. The SLEP data supports the assertion that many drug products, if properly stored, can be extended past the expiration date. Due to the lot-to-lot variability, the stability and quality of extended drug products can only be assured by periodic testing and systematic evaluation of each lot.
authors.affiliation: Division of Product Quality Research, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, HFD-941, White Oak, Life Sciences Building 64, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland 20993-0002, USA. robbe.lyon@fda.hhs.gov
authors.forename: Robbe C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Lyon
authors.forename: Jeb S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Donna A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Hullahalli R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Prasanna
authors.forename: Ajaz S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hussain
mesh_terms: D004355:Drug Stability; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration; D037041:United States Government Agencies
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations