Assessment of Veterinary Pharmaceutical Products Registered in Kenya based on their routes of administration and dosage forms.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the veterinary pharmaceutical products that have been registered in Kenya in order to determine the most common routes of administration and the type of marketed dosage forms. Registered veterinary products were first categorized by route of administration and then sub-categorized by the dosage form. Veterinary pharmaceuticals delivered by oral and parenteral routes were the most common, collectively accounting for 87.7% of all registered products. Topical, intramammary, intrauterine and ophthalmic routes accounted for 4.7%, 3.3%, 1.0% and 0.1% of the registered products respectively. Products that could be delivered by more than one administration route comprised 3.2% of the registered products. For most routes of administration, a variety of specific dosage forms were available. Dosage forms for oral administration included solids (53.4%) namely powders, tablets, boluses, freeze dried products, granules; liquids (46.3%) namely suspensions, solutions, syrups and semi-solids (0.3%) namely pastes. Topically administered dosage forms included solutions, sprays, ointments, creams, shampoos and powders, while those delivered via the intrauterine route included pessaries, solutions and suspensions.

Keywords: dosage forms, administration route, veterinary pharmaceutical products, animal species, drug delivery.