A SELECTIVE AND SENSITIVE METHOD DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION BY LC-MS/MS APPROACH FOR TRACE LEVEL QUANTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL GENOTOXIC IMPURITY OF BOC EPOXIDE IN ATAZANAVIR SULPHATE DRUG SUBSTANCE

Abstract

Objective: To develop and validate a selective, sensitive, rapid and accurate method using LC-MS/MS technique to achieve efficient separation between active pharmaceutical ingredient (Atazanavir sulphate) and genotoxic impurity (BOC epoxide).Methods: The quantification was carried out using the column puro sphere star RP 18 e (length 150 mm, internal diameter 4.6 mm, particle size 3.0 µm) with electrospray ionization in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) detection mode. Eluent-A was 0.1% formic acid in water and eluent-B was 0.1% formic acid and 0.1% ammonium hydroxide solution (25%) in acetonitrile. The isocratic mode of elution was carried out for the elution of impurity with the shorter run time of 6 min. The flow rate was 1.0 ml/min and column oven temperature was maintained 25 °C.Results: The method was validated as per ICH guidelines and arrived the limit of detection and limit of quantification for the potential genotoxic impurity and found to be 0.2 ppm and 0.5 ppm. The developed method was found linear in the concentration range of 0.5 ppm to 6 ppm and accuracy results were within the range. Conclusion: The developed short span method found to be selective, sensitive, precise and accurate for the quantification of the BOC epoxide genotoxic impurity in atazanavir sulphate drug substance.