Analytical and biological inequivalence of two commercial formulations of the antitumor agent bleomycin

Robert T. Dorr, Ross Meyers, Kristi Snead, James D. Liddil

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Bleomycin is an antitumor agent which is a mixture of glycopeptides containing at least 55-75% bleomycin A2 and 25-32% bleomycin B2 fractional composition. Two bleomycin formulations, bleomycin sulfate, USP (Blenoxane, Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology, Princeton, N.J.) and bleomycin HCl (Tianjin Hebei Pharmaceutical, Tianjin, China) were compared analytically and biologically. Reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses using the USP methodology showed that Blenoxane contained primarily (69%) bleomycin A2 and 29.3% bleomycin B2. In contrast, Tianjin-supplied bleomycin HCl contained 97% bleomycin A5 fraction. In vitro tumor cell growth inhibition assays showed equivalent activity in human OVCAR-3 ovarian cancer cells and slightly greater potency in murine L-1210 leukemia cells for the Tianjin formulation. In C57/B1 mice bearing B-16 melanoma tumors, Tianjin-supplied bleomycin produced slightly greater tumor growth inhibition at the expense of greater drug-induced lethality at higher dose levels. These studies show there are significant differences in two international bleomycin formulations. These compositional differences lead to altered biologic effects.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)149-154
Number of pages6
JournalCancer Chemotherapy And Pharmacology
Volume42
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1998

Keywords

  • Anticancer
  • Bleomycin
  • Equivalence

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Toxicology
  • Pharmacology
  • Cancer Research
  • Pharmacology (medical)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Analytical and biological inequivalence of two commercial formulations of the antitumor agent bleomycin'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this