Russian chemists find way to determine expiry date of medicines without opening packaging

Scientists from the Department of Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Chemistry at the Medical Institute of Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba (RUDN), a partner of TV BRICS, have discovered that medicines containing nanoparticles "glow" differently depending on their condition. The closer they are to their expiry date, the weaker their thermal radiation. This signal is detected by a portable device through the sealed packaging, according to the university’s website.

The rapid method is based on a fundamental law of physics, according to which any substance heated even slightly above zero emits thermal electromagnetic radiation. Scientists have discovered that, for medicines, the intensity of this radiation depends directly on their condition: the closer they are to their expiry date, or the more deteriorated the medicine is, the weaker the signal.

"Every medicine has a use-by date – and this is not just a formality. An expired medicine may not only lose its effectiveness but also become dangerous. The molecules break down and turn into unpredictable compounds," explained Gleb Petrov, Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Chemistry at RUDN University.

The experiments were conducted over several years. The researchers tested the method on various biologically active pharmaceutical ingredients, including interferons, enzymes and protein-based vaccines. All measurements were taken through sealed packaging. As the expiry date passed and the biologically active components denatured (degraded), the intensity of the thermal signal decreased by approximately an order of magnitude, which was reliably recorded by the portable detector.

According to the researchers, this development will enable two tasks to be addressed simultaneously: identifying expired medicines without compromising the integrity of the packaging, and serving as an additional tool for detecting counterfeit products.

According to RUDN University, the devices and methodology have already been acquired by several major pharmaceutical companies for use on production lines.