Development of a New, Fully Validated LC-MS/MS Method for the Analysis of Flibanserin in Pharmaceutical Preparations and Comparison of the Chromatographic Performance with Six Stationary Phase Types

Background Initially synthesized as an antidepressant and potentially rapid onset of action, flibanserin (FLB) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2015 with a warning to dispense the drug through a dedicated risk management program, despite the removal of HSDD from the DSM-5TM. The drug is the first noteworthy FDA-approved drug for treating premenopausal women with acquired, generalized HSDD.Objective In literature, studies are plasma analyses or metabolite determinations to meet pharmacokinetic analyses and some analytical targets. For this reason, in this thesis, a new method has been developed for analysing FLB from pharmaceutical preparations, which is our target, providing all optimization conditions and method validity parameters.Methods The chromatographic separation was also investigated using Chromolith (R) and Ascentis (R) Express models with a total of six stationary phases. The mobile phase mixture was acetonitrile:ammonium formate (0.020 M, pH 6.0) and was used at the ratio (60:40, v/v). The optimum column temperature was chosen as 40.0 +/- 0.1 degrees C, and the autosampler thermostat temperature was chosen as 15 +/- 0.1 degrees C. The sample injection volume is optimized to be 1 mu L.Results The developed method is linear in the range of 2.63-105.0 ng/mL, and the regression coefficient is 0.999 intraday and 0.986 interday. In the method, LOD and LOQ were obtained as 128 pg/mL and 384 pg/mL, respectively. In addition, the ANOVA P values were calculated as 0.586 and 0.914, respectively, in the validation studies conducted intraday and interday.Conclusion FLB chromatographic behaviors were studied and compared in detail with six different stationary phases. The developed method was fully validated according to the ICH Q2 (R1) guideline, and its pseudo-pharmaceutical formulation was analyzed.