Development and validation of a simple HPTLC method for the determination of new hepatitis C subtype 4 antiviral agents in their tablet dosage form

A new, simple, precise, accurate and selective high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir in their tablet dosage form. Chromatographic separation was carried out on Merck TLC aluminum sheets of silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ using ethyl acetate:hexane:methanol in the ratio of 8:1.25:0.75 (% v/v) as the mobile phase followed by densitometric measurement at 256 nm. The method was validated in terms of linearity, accuracy, precision, limit of detection, limit of quantification and specificity in accordance with the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. The calibration curve was found to be linear between 60 to 1980 and 45 to 3600 ng/band for ledipasvir and sofosbuvir, respectively, with significantly high value of regression coefficient (r² > 0.9999) with linear and homoscedastic residuals. The limits of detection and quantification were found to be 16.5 and 50 ng/band, respectively, for ledipasvir and 13 and 39.5 ng/band, respectively, for sofosbuvir. Comparative study was performed between the developed HPTLC method and the reported high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The quantitative results of the two analytical methods did not show statistically significant difference, whereas the developed HPTLC method is both time- and cost-effective.