Physicochemical equivalence of chloroquine phosphate tablets

Seven brands of chloroquine phosphate tablets sourced from different retail outlets in the South-West Nigerian market were analysed in order to determine their physicochemical equivalence. The assessment parameters included uniformity of weight, friability, crushing strength, disintegration and dissolution tests and chemical assay of the tablets. All the brands passed the British Pharmacopoeia tests for weight uniformity, disintegration time and dissolution rate. Two brands, C and E passed the minimum criterion for crushing strength, four brands passed the friability test and two brands exceeded the specified amount of active drug content for chloroquine tablets. Only one brand C out of the seven brands that were analysed passed all the BP quality specifications. Hence none of the seven brands analysed could said to be physically and chemically equivalent. This study highlights the need for constant market monitoring of new products in order to ascertain their quality.