Quantification and In Silico Toxicity Assessment of Tazarotene and its Impurities for a Quality and Safe Drug Product Development.

Tazarotene is internationally accepted common name for ethyl 6-[(4,4-dimethylthiochroman-6-yl)ethynyl]nicotinate. It is a synthetic retinoid used for the topical treatment of mild to moderate plaque psoriasis, acne vulgaris and photo aging. To ensure the quality of drug product and drug substance, a LC-MS compatible UHPLC method was developed for quantification of drug and its related substances. Stationary phase with fused core particle technology is used for the separation of impurities. Limit of quantification and limit of detection of the method are 0.1 and 0.03%, respectively. Precision of the method for Tazarotene and all its related substances is less than 2.2% RSD. The correlation coefficient is >0.999. Accuracy of method is ranged from 95.3% to 107.0%. Application of this method in stability analysis has been demonstrated by analyzing stressed samples. Experimental design is used for the verification of robustness of the method. To ensure the safety, an in silico toxicity of the drug and its related substances were determined using TOPKAT and DEREK toxicity predictions Both UHPLC and in silico methods were validated as per the ICH Q2 and ICH M7 guidelines, which will enable a rapid product development of Tazarotene topical formulations while ensuring the safety and quality of product.

Quantification and In Silico Toxicity Assessment of Nimesulide and its Related Substances.

Availability of analytical method which is compatible with both Ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to identify and quantify the impurities in pharmaceutical products is an advantage for drug product development; such analytical method was developed for Nimesulide using a fused core column. Ammonium acetate and methanol were used as mobile phase in the gradient elution at a detection wavelength 230 nm. Quality-by-design principles helped in identifying the critical method development parameters and design space. Limit of detection and the limit of quantification are 0.025 and 0.075%, respectively. Precision of the method is <0.4% RSD and correlation coefficient is >0.999 for Nimesulide and all related substances. Accuracy of Nimesulide ranged from 99.3 to 100.4% at assay concentration. Application of this method in stability analysis has been demonstrated by analyzing stressed samples. The method was validated for specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness in compliance with International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) Q2(R1). This is the first reported UHPLC method for the estimation of Nimesulide and its related substances. According to ICH M7 guidelines, all impurities were assessed for genotoxicity, LD50, skin sensitization, irritation potential and carcinogenicity using Derek and TOPKAT software. Combined knowledge of analytical and toxicology assessment will help in developing safe and quality product.