What is Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API)
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient(API) is the portion of any drug that is active. Some drugs have more
than one API and the reaction of different drugs differ depending on the administered dosage. A drug is
made up of two components: one is the actual API which forms the basic ingredient and the other is the
substance inside the drug which is known as an excipient. The excipient is the vehicle that carries the
active ingredient and is the liquid in syrups.
Recipients are inactive whereas the active pharmaceutical ingredients are the substances that cause the
drug to react in the desired way. The active ingredient in a drug ought to be of the right quality as it
directly affects the drug’s safety and efficacy. Where the active ingredient is contaminated or poorly
manufactured, the consequences can have serious health outcomes and could even be fatal.
The methods of standardizing the API strength varies depending on the brand where different
manufacturers may adopt different standards for evaluating the strength of the API.
The process of manufacturing Active Pharmaceutical ingredients includes fermentation, chemical
synthesis, and isolation of the ingredients from natural sources among others. The FDA has set standards
relating to documentation, storage and regulatory compliance of APIs. When getting APIs from the
manufacturer ensure that they are labelled, packaged and produced based on the FDA standards.
Most patients are unable to understand the active pharmaceutical ingredient in the drug and may not even
be aware of it. When on multiple medications, the different active ingredients can interfere with each
other and the results could be life threatening and even fatal.
There exists online databases, however, where patients can identify the active ingredients in the drugs
they are taking as well as their interactions in order to prevent negative results.
