68492 Principles of Pharmaceutical Science
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Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 65111c Chemistry 1 AND 91161c Cell Biology and Genetics
The lower case 'c' after the subject code indicates that the subject is a corequisite. See definitions for details.
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
This subject provides the basis for contextualising pharmaceutical science as a discipline through an introduction to the basic physicochemical principles of pharmaceutical formulations of active ingredients. After providing an overview of pharmaceutics, different routes of drug administration and dosage form design characteristics are discussed. The factors effecting drug solubility and dissolution are covered, as well as the scope and limitations of various predictive models used to study these properties. The properties of common drug delivery systems such as colloids, emulsions and creams are introduced, and how these systems can be applied to different pharmaceutical applications. Case studies are used throughout this subject to demonstrate real-world applications of pharmaceutical science and reinforce student learning.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Apply chemical principles including solubility, rates of dissolution and diffusion to drug dosage forms |
|---|---|
| 2. | Devise a strategy to perform accelerated stability studies to determine shelf life of dosage forms |
| 3. | Retrieve and analyse the scientific literature in the context of coarse and colloidal dosage forms |
| 4. | Develop written communication skills to convey information to specific audiences |
| 5. | Work as an effective and reliable team member, demonstrating the necessary organisation and planning skills, collaboration and project management |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of following course intended learning outcomes:
- Explain how the applications of scientific disciplinary knowledge can be integrated as advances relevant to different scientific topics. (1.1)
- Design scientific experiments to collect, accurately record data that can be critically analysed and applied to real-world scientific questions. (2.1)
- Evaluate ethical constraints and limitations of data collection and analysis whilst using appropriate scientific approaches to solve global problems and engage in decision making. (3.1)
- Reflect upon, independently evaluate, and critically appraise current sources of information from various disciplines to develop innovative solutions to real world problems. (4.1)
- Effectively communicate scientific knowledge to a range of audiences while using a variety of appropriate methods and media. (5.1)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
Graduate Attribute 1 – Disciplinary knowledge – you will understand the principles, practice and application of preparing a stable disperse system by critically analyzing dissolution, diffusion and stability aspects. This subject will develop your knowledge through online recorded material, on-campus lecture/tutorials, assignments and quizzes.
Graduate Attribute 2 – Research, Inquiry and Critical Thinking – you will develop skills in designing stable dosage forms (dispersed systems) and the scientific method of knowledge acquisition that includes problem solving and critical thinking in designing an innovative dispersed system that complies with standard attributes and patient requirements.
Graduate Attribute 3 - Professional, Ethical and Social Responsibility– you will learn to acquire, develop, employ and integrate a range of skills within a professional context of dosage forms, either autonomously or collaboratively.
Graduate Attribute 4 - Reflection, Innovation, Creativity – you will be provided with several opportunities to explore the case studies in context to dispersed system and develop the ability to make effective judgments about your own knowledge in the field. Opportunities to reflect and act on feedback will be available throughout the semester. Feedback from the on-campus lecture/tutorials will be used to explore additional factors that may contribute in designing a stable dispersed system, and feedback from the quizzes will allow students to monitor their progression through the subject.
Graduate Attribute 5 – Communication – you will develop your written communication skills, including tailoring your message to a target audience.
Teaching and learning strategies
This subject will be delivered through online asynchronous lecture material and on-campus lectures.
Online lectures and resource material: 12 x 2 hours. Each week students will need to view online material in the form of recorded lectures or other online content (YouTube videos etc). The material delivered here will be built upon during the on-campus activities.
Integrated lectures and workshops: 12 x 2 hours on-campus with recordings available on Canvas. In these sessions there will be a mixture of lectures covering key concepts and problem-solving exercises. Students will be expected to engage with pre-lecture material in Canvas. Questions and lectures will consolidate concepts learnt in the online material. Students will receive on-going feedback during the classes in the form of discussion of the solutions to quiz and tutorial questions both as a full class and in small student-led groups.
Content (topics)
- Introduction to Pharmaceutics - An overview of pharmaceutics will be discussed along with the key topics that will be taught during the session.
- Basic principles involved in design of dosage forms - Routes of drug administration, key factors to be considered while designing dosage forms.
- Dissolution mechanism - Importance of dissolution, Noyes-Whitney equation.
- Solubility of drugs - Introduction, solubility of solid in liquid, liquid in liquid, solubility of gases in liquid, distribution law.
- Properties of solution - Types of solutions (ideal solutions, real solutions), hydrogen ion concentration and pH, buffer equations, Henderson–Hasselbalch equations.
- Diffusion mechanism - Passive and active diffusion across biological barrier, case studies.
- Surface and Interfacial phenomenon - Liquid interface, surface and interfacial tensions and its measurements, adsorption at liquid interfaces, surface active agents, HLB, micellar solubilisation.
- Disperse system: Colloidal - Types of colloidal systems, properties of colloidal system, origin of charges on dispersed particles, electrical double layer.
- Coarse Disperse system: Suspensions - Introduction, types of suspension, Stokes' law, sedimentation parameters.
- Coarse Disperse system: Emulsion - Theory of emulsification, physical stability of emulsions, preservation of emulsions.
- Rheology - Newtonian systems and non-Newtonian systems.
- Stability - Reaction kinetics, accelerated stability testing, factors influencing degradation of pharmaceutical products.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: In-class Quizzes
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Graduate Attributes: 1. Disciplinary Knowledge |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.1 |
| Type: | Quiz/test |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Criteria: | Students will be assessed based on the correctness of their responses. |
Assessment task 2: Disperse systems assignment
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Graduate Attributes: 1. Disciplinary Knowledge 3. Professional, Ethical and Social Responsibility 4. Reflection, Innovation, Creativity 5. Communication |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 4 and 5 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.1, 3.1, 4.1 and 5.1 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Group, group assessed |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Criteria: | Students will be assessed based on two-page written approaches to solve the given problem. |
Assessment task 3: Literature search
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Graduate Attributes: 1. Disciplinary Knowledge 2. Research, Inquiry and Critical Thinking 3. Professional, Ethical and Social Responsibility 4. Reflection, Innovation, Creativity 5. Communication
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3 and 4 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1 and 5.1 |
| Type: | Literature review |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Criteria: | The journal article will be assessed based on the content and synthesis of scientific literature, quality of the writing, formatting, presentation and appropriate use of literature references. A rubric will be provided on Canvas. The use of genAI is permitted for the collation of information for this assessment however your submitted journal article must be your own work supported by references to the scientific literature. |