Vehicles for Parenteral

• In the development of a
parenteral product one will
have to use a suitable vehicle
for dissolving or suspending
the medicament.

• Two types of vehicle are:

1. Aqueous vehicles.
2. Non-aqueous vehicles.
1. Aqueous vehicles
Water is the most commonly used vehicle for parenteral
preparations and is the most suitable since aqueous preparations are
well tolerated by the body and are the safest to be used.

Different types of water used include:

o Water for injection.
o Sterile water for injection.
o Bacteriostatic water for injection.
 2. Non-aqueous vehicles
Aqueous vehicles are preferred for parenteral preparations, but it is
sometimes necessary to eliminate water from certain preparations for
one of the following reasons:
• To enhance the solubility of certain poorly water-soluble drugs by
replacing water with other nonaqueous vehicles.
• To protect certain drugs from hydrolytic reactions.

Nonaqueous vehicles used in parenteral preparations include:

o Water miscible vehicle.
o Water immiscible vehicles.
 Container
Pharmaceutical container is a device that hold the pharmaceutical
product and it may or may not be in direct contact with it.
• Any container for parenteral products should maintain the
integrity of the product.
• Sterile and pyrogen free.
• Should also attractive.
• Should not react with the products.
• Should protect the contents from harmful light radiations.
• Must be suitable for repeated use and easy to clean.
 Different types of containers
1 . Ampules:
• The oldest type of Parenteral product containers, are
made entirely of glass.
• Single use only.

Disadvantages
• Because glass particles may become dislodged during
ampule opening, the product must be filtered before
it.
 2. Vials: 
• Vials are glass or plastic containers closed
with a rubber stopper and sealed with an
aluminum crimp.
• Vials have several advantages over ampoules.
a. Vials can be designed to hold multiple
doses.
b. The drug product is easier to remove from
vials than from ampules.
However, Vials also have certain disadvantages
a. The rubber stopper can become cored,
causing a small bit of rubber to enter the
solution.
 3. Prefilled syringes:

• Prefilled syringes and cartridges are

designed for maximum convenience .
• Drugs administration in an emergency.
• Prefilled cartridges are ready-to-use
parenteral packages that offer improved
sterility and accuracy.
• They consist of a plastic cartridges holder
and prefilled medication cartridge with a
needle attached.
 4. Infusion solutions:
Infusion solutions are divided into
two categories:

o Small-volume parenterals
(SVPs), Those having a volume less
than 100 ml.
o Large-volume parenterals
(LVPs), Those having a volume of
100 ml.
 Closure
• Closure is a device tightly pack the container
to exclude oxygen, carbon dioxide, moisture
& microorganism & prevent loss of water &
volatile substance from the product during
transport & handling.
• It is part of container system but doesn’t
come in contact with drug.
• Two types rubber are used for closure.
1. Natural Rubber
2. Synthetic Rubber