The long-term stability of solid-state oral pharmaceuticals exposed to simulated intravehicular space radiation

• DOI: 10.1038/s41526-025-00469-w
• Publication Date: 2025-05-17T05:34:38Z
• Authors: Ianik Plante; Vernie Daniels; Millennia Young; Ramona Gaza; Honglu Wu; John F. Reichard

Pharmaceutical products brought for space missions must remain effective and safe throughout the mission. Previous NASA experiments suggest that radiation exposure could threaten drug stability during long-duration missions. The Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element has evaluated this possibility by exposing four medications to simulated Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCRSim) at Space Laboratory followed a three-year storage period. solid oral Acetaminophen, Amoxicillin, Ibuprofen, Promethazine were used. Identical lots of each medication assigned experimental groups: non-irradiated Johnson Center control group, traveling irradiation group I (GRSim, 0.5 Gy), II (GCRSim, 1.0 Gy). Drug assessed active pharmaceutical ingredient, degradation impurities, dissolution 2, 18, 34 months after irradiation. All samples show comparable degradation, revealing GCR does not facilitate drugs.