The commentary seeks to provide a brief history and perspective on the importance of crystal forms of pharmaceuticals as a means of achieving performance criteria. The expanding scope of crystal form selection, emergence of crystal engineering in pharmaceutical science and pharmaceutical co-crystals are topics of this brief review.

The article highlights the role played by São Paulo's Pasteur Institute (1903-16) in the development of microbiological science in Brazil and in the emergence of a pharmaceutical industry owned by Brazilian capital.

Using a Taylor expansion to first order, a novel method was developed to calculate the uncertainty of drug concentration in pharmaceutical dosage forms. The method allows, in principle, calculation of the maximum potential error in drug concentration in a mixture composed of an infinite number of ingredients that are measured on multiple balances of variable sensitivity requirements.

Working together to uncover the truth: A molecule-sized diagnostic system combining several recognition elements and four fluorescence-emission channels enabled the identification of a wide range of pharmaceuticals on the basis of distinct photophysical processes. The molecular sensor (see simplified representation; ID = identification) was also used to analyze drug concentrations and combinati...