Medicines Do Not Expire Faster in Space: Good News for Long Spaceflight Missions

First Posted: Nov 11, 2015 08:13 AM EST
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Medicine doesn't degrade faster in space. Scientists have conducted an opportunistic, pilot-scale study and have found that medication on the International Space Station (ISS) does not degrade faster than medication on Earth.

The ISS is regularly resupplied with medicines to replace those that have passed their expiration date. However, resupply missions may not be possible on exploration missions that travel to more distant points. On Earth, medicines degrade over time, especially when exposed to light, oxygen or humidity. Although temperature and humidity conditions on the ISS are generally within ideal ranges of medicine storage on Earth, until now there's been little evidence to show how medicines may react to factors unique to spaceflight.

In this latest study, the researchers analyzed nine medications that had been stocked on the ISS and returned to Earth unused after 550 days of storage in spaceflight. These medications included sleeping aids, pain relievers, antihistamines/decongestants, an antidiarrhoeal, and an alertness drug. The medicines, upon their arrival on Earth, were kept under controlled conditions until analysis three to five months later

So what did they find? One of the medications actually met USP requirements five months after its expiration date. Four of the nine drugs were still viable up to eight months after officially expiring. Another three medications met USP guidelines when they were tested three months before their expiration date. No unusual signs of degradation were found in any of the tests.

The nature of the study means the results are only based on measurements made at a single point in time for a handful of medications. This means that they're not applicable to gauge the safety of other medicines. However, it does suggest that medications do not degrade more quickly in space.

The findings are published in The AAPS Journal.

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