A Comparative Study between Legally Imported and Smuggled Brands of Atenolol and Atorvastatin Drugs Marketed in Aden, Yemen

The purpose of this project was to compare the quality control parameters of both legally imported and smuggled products of Atenolol (Tenormin®) and Atorvastatin (Ateroz®) drugs marketed in Aden, Yemen.  Hundred tablets from each studied product were taken from the market and were determined by the quality control parameters including weight variation, hardness, diameter, thickness, disintegration, leakage and assay tests as well as identification of drugs by Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectrophotometer. The result of this study showed that both legally imported and smuggled tested tablets of Atenolol (Tenormin®) in accordance with quality control specifications except the assay test of smuggled Tenormin where the result shows a value of 81% only and thickness test of smuggled Tenormin that show the values outside of the acceptable range. On the other hand, legally imported and smuggled tablet of Atorvastatin (Ateroz®) complied quality control specifications for the tested parameters. We concluded that the tested drugs complied most of quality control specifications with presence of a variation in some quality control tests between legally imported and smuggled products.