Fast Isotopic Ratio Mass Spectrometry (FIRMS) Software and the
Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Market
Alexander McKim
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Paul Hinker
National Science Foundation, SPACT REU Summer 2016
Introduction
Fast Isotopic ratio Mass Spectrometry (FIRMS) goal is to read in mass spectra data,
and predict the isotopic ratios of the compound under inspection. It is being
produced with the goal of targeting the source chemical used to produce drugs
• Counterfeit pharmaceutical market is multi-billion dollar industry.
• The counterfeit pharmaceutical industry is projected to grow faster than the
legal industry.
• Law enforcement has currently been ineffective at making any dent into illegal
businesses.
• The sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals has sometimes been linked to
contributing to the funding of terrorist organizations.
Figure 1: Topography, how the software finds
relative maximums/minimums.
Figure 2: Basic example of Mass
Spectrum.
Objectives
•
Figure 4: FIRMS is showing here all of the possible isotope combinations for this compound.
• Each Segment of the market
seems to have top players
who take most of the profit,
similar to an oligopoly.
• FIRMS math is more
consistent after finding that
you must keep track of every
individual bond when
fragmenting a certain
isotope, and which is actually
fragmented.
Procedures/Development
•
GUI which allows execution of
simple, preset molecules like
C19H19N7O6..(Figure 3)
Software finds all possible
compounds by listing each
isotope of each element, and
predicts which combination
matches the mass spectrum.
•
Find that FIRMS will affect production of the drugs.
Losing production capabilities will lose customers,
causing growth to slow down.
Will take time for company to return to pre-FIRMS
growth level.
2. Study the role of technology and the internet in
the counterfeit pharmaceutical business.
•
•
•
•
1. Identify the impact that a working FIRMS
software can possibly have on the counterfeit
pharmaceutical market, how the market currently
operates, and investigate why FIRMS is currently
giving error.
•
Software Background
Results
Understand how FIRMS will accomplish its
goal by further proving the math behind the
project.
Understand how the market makes and
distributes drugs.
Explain how FIRMS could potentially affect
the market.
Figure 7: Shows companies gaining new
customers over time.
Conclusions
Figure 5:
Chart showing
thousands of
results for
drugs online,
many results
are illegal.
•
•
•
•
•
Chemical source is “head of the spider”.
FIRMS has to keep track of more than expected.
Illegal businesses understand how to grow their
market and take advantage of demand.
Technology is the greatest tool worldwide
businesses use to grow their market.
These global markets are what should be targeted
when attempting to interdict this market.
Figure 6: Picture showing example
of a global market and the different
segments involved.
Future Work
•
•
•
Work on keeping tracks of all chemical bonds,
and implementing this in the software
Look into the demographics of who buys
counterfeit drugs, see if repeat buyers significant
Get a more in depth look on how and where the
drugs are made. For example, whether a large
factory will be devoted to one drug, or if they
typically make many different types.
Acknowledgements:
This work was made possible by the National
Science Foundation SPACT REU. Thanks to Dr.
Paul Hinker and Dr. Brian Logue, and site
director Dr. Grant Crawford.