Polysorbate 20 and Polysorbate 80 Used in Pharmaceuticals

1. W hat I s P olysorbate U sed F or ? Polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monolaurate (aka. polysorbate 20) and polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate (aka. Polysorbate 80) derived from sorbitan monolaurate and sorbitan monooleate through fatty acids esterification. They are lipophilic nonionic surfactants that can be used in pharmaceutical excipients formulations to prevent protein denaturation, aggregation, surface absorption and flocculation during melting process. 2. The characteristics of polysorbates As a protein stabilizer, polysorbates can be degraded through oxidation and hydrolysis pathways, where the hydrolysis pathway is chemically induced or enzymatically catalyzed. Polysorbate 80 uses in pharmaceuticals and polysorbate 20 uses in pharmaceuticals are normally protein stabilizers in most commercial therapeutic protein formulations. This is because of the following characteristics of polysorbates: (1) Biocompatibility; (2) Low toxicity; (3) Effective protein ...