Development and validation of a stability-indicating RP-LC method for the determination of anticancer drug epirubicin in pharmaceuticals

Abstract

In the present paper, sensitive, rapid, and different analytical methodology was developed for the determination of anticancer drug epirubicin (EPR). The mixture of epirubicin and moxifloxacin as internal standard was separated on a reversed phase Waters Spherisorb ODS1 column (250mm × 4.6mm × 5mm) using acetonitrile/water (30:70 v/v) mixture containing 15 mM phosphoric acid as mobile phase at 0.6 mL min-1 flow rate and 30 C. Also degradation studies were conducted as stress conditions of UV light, acidic hydrolysis, alkaline hydrolysis, oxidation, and heat in oven (100°C), to evaluate the ability of the proposed method for the separation of EPR from its degradation products. The validated method suggests routine analysis of EPR in differently equipped laboratories. © 2014 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.