The disposal of expired pharmaceutical tablets, particularly those from household sources, is a growing environmental concern due to the accumulation of pharmaceutical contaminants in water ecosystems. Despite FDA recommendations to discard expired medications, studies have shown that many of these pills retain up to 90 % of their original potency long after their expiration date. This opens up the possibility for recycling and reusing the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) contained in these expired pills. This study presents a simple yet effective extraction protocol for recovering APIs from expired tablets of Metformin hydrochloride and Losartan potassium. The method achieved recovery yields of 88 % for Losartan and 37 % for Metformin. Structural characterization via NMR, HPLC, IR, HRMS, and both powder, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction confirmed the integrity and high purity of the recovered APIs compared to chemical standards. Biological assays carried out in L929 cell line revealed that the extracted APIs retained comparable activity to their chemical-standard counterparts, suggesting their potential for reuse in biochemical assays. During the recrystallization process by using PDRX, a new polymorphic form of Losartan potassium was discovered and named "Form M". In addition, a twelve-month stability study showed no degradation for either API at storage conditions. These results suggest that expired APIs are chemically and biologically viable for repurposing, as synthetic precursors in chemical research and in biological assays. The protocol is scalable, adaptable to pharmaceutical companies, and applicable in both industrial and research settings, offering a sustainable solution to pharmaceutical waste. By recovering APIs for educational and industrial use, this approach promotes environmental stewardship and resource efficiency in pharmaceutical science.
We developed and validated a novel bioanalytical method for the simultaneous quantification of levofloxacin, linezolid, moxifloxacin, delamanid, bedaquiline, clofazimine, and pretomanid, along with the metabolites of delamanid (DM-6705) and bedaquiline (N-desmethyl-bedaquiline, M2), in human lung tissue samples. Following homogenization by bead beating and extraction by protein precipitation, the analytes were separated on an Agilent 1260 Infinity II HPLC system using a Poroshell 120 C18 EC (2.1 mm×50 mm, 2.7 µm) column with gradient elution, applying a mobile phase consisting of 0.1 % formic acid in water and 0.1 % formic acid in a mixture of acetonitrile and methanol. Detection and quantification of the analytes and their stable isotope labelled internal standards were performed on a Sciex API 5500 QTrap mass spectrometer using positive electrospray ionization and multiple reaction monitoring. Validation according to the guidelines of the FDA and EMA proved the method to be precise, accurate, and robust with no significant influence of matrix components. The application of the method to the analysis of clinical samples demonstrated the feasibility of quantifying the second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs in human lung tissue and the potential to provide insights into the drug distribution across the infection sites in the lung.

