De-alcoholization of paclitaxel injection for clinical application.

A generic drug of Taxol® Injection, Paclitaxel Injection NK (PTX injection), cannot be used for patients with severe hypersensitivity or overwhelming intolerance to alcohol because it contains ethanol as a dissolving agent. Therefore, we evaluated the suitability of de-alcoholized PTX injection for clinical application. De-alcoholization was carried out using inactive N2 gas under sterile conditions. The pharmacokinetic properties of the de-alcoholized PTX injection were evaluated in rats after intravenous injection. Finally, the de-alcoholized PTX injection was administered to a patient with alcohol intolerance to evaluate its suitability for clinical application. The ethanol included in the supplied PTX injection was almost completely removed (>99.9%). PTX, the major component of the de-alcoholized PTX injection, was stable with no decomposed compounds or bacterial contamination, although its viscosity was increased by 29-fold compared with untreated PTX injection. No significant differences in the pharmacokinetic parameters of PTX were observed between the de-alcoholized and untreated PTX injections. No drunkenness was observed in the patient with severe alcohol intolerance after injection of de-alcoholized PTX injection. Adverse events such as nausea, muscle pain, joint pain, neuropathy and myelosuppression were observed at similar degrees to those after injection of untreated PTX injection. The plasma concentrations of PTX after injection of the de-alcoholized PTX injection were similar to those after injection of untreated PTX injection. The present findings suggest that almost complete de-alcoholization of PTX can be achieved easily under sterile conditions and that the resulting product can be used safely for patients with severe alcohol intolerance.