Development and Validation of an HPLC Method for Determination of Ceftiofur Sodium

An isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for assay of ceftiofur sodium in drug substance and in sterile powder for injection. Chromatography was performed on a 250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm particle, C₁₈ column with a 78:22 (v/v) mixture of 0.02 m disodium hydrogen phosphate buffer (pH adjusted to 6.0 with 85% orthophosphoric acid) and acetonitrile as mobile phase, at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min⁻¹. The separation was monitored by UV detection at 292 nm. Validation of the method for linearity and range, intra- and inter-day precision, accuracy, specificity, recovery, robustness, and limits of quantification and detection yielded good results. The calibration plot was linear from 20.0–120.0 μg mL⁻¹ and the correlation coefficient was 0.9999. It was shown that ceftiofur was degraded under acidic, alkaline, oxidative, and photolytic conditions. The method was found to be stability-indicating and could be used for routine analysis of ceftiofur sodium for injection.