Drugs are made up of two main parts: active and inactive parts. The active part is essentially the drug that you are purchasing and it varies depending on the condition that you are looking to treat. For example, if treating pain, the active ingredient is acetaminophen. The active ingredients come in different dosages depending on the extent of the condition and the age of the person that the medication is designed for.

Inactive parts of a drug

The inactive part of the drug makes up the largest portion of the drug and often don’t cause interaction with the primary ingredient. Just like with the active ingredients of the drug, the inactive ingredients vary depending on the drug. There are many types of these ingredients with the most common being:

Artificial sweeteners: These are designed to make the drugs sweet to take. There are many types of artificial sweeteners in the market but the most common are: aspartame and saccharin. Aspartame is heavily used in chewable tablets and sugar-free formulations. Saccharin, on the other hand, is used in almost all oral drugs both solid and liquid. It is usually not included in the drug labeling thus it’s difficult to tell when present.

Benzyl alcohol: Benzyl alcohol is used as a preservative in many injectable drugs and solutions. While there are some people that are allergic to benzyl alcohol, studies show that small doses of it don’t have any effect on both adults and children.

Coloring agents: These are dyes that are meant to give the drugs a distinctive and identifiable appearance. The most common dyes used are: azo dye tartrazine, neutral red dye, and many others.

Lactose: It’s widely used as a diluent or filler in capsules and tablets. It’s used to give bulk to the powders.

Propylene glycol: Glycol is used as a drug solubilizer in oral, topical, and injectable medications.

Guide to buying the ingredients

If you are a drug manufacturer you need to be cautious of where you buy them from. As rule of thumb ensure you buy them from a reputable store. The store should comply with the regulatory guidelines in all areas of drug manufacture. This includes: labeling, packaging, repackaging and others. The store should also have strict client confidentiality where it shouldn’t disclose the information that you give.

To find a reputable store you need to take your time to research. Before getting into a contract with a given company, take your time to read the reviews given by previous customers.