HPLC Method Development and Validation for the Determination of Apixaban and Clopidogrel in Novel Fixed-Dose Combination Tablets

A simple, fast, and accurate high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method is developed, optimized, and validated for a fixed-dose combination of apixaban (APX) and clopidogrel (CLOP) tablets according to ICH guidelines. Chromatographic separation of the drugs was performed on a BDS Hypersil C18 (4.6 <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><a:mi>∗</a:mi></a:math> 150 mm, 5 μm), with acetonitrile (ACN) and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in the ratio 48 : 52 (v/v) as a mobile phase, at a flow rate of 0.9 ml/min., injection volume of 5 μL, and column temperature 45°C. The proposed method was linear over the level 25–200% for a concentration of APX 5 μg/ml and CLOP 75 μg/ml (R2 > 0.999). The detection limit for APX and CLOP was found to be 0.3465 and 3.8496 μg/ml, whereas the quantification limit was 1.0499 and 11.6656 μg/ml, respectively. The recovery was more than 99% using the standard addition method. The developed method was found to be specific, accurate, precise, and robust against changes in column temperature (±5°C) and mobile phase composition (±5% ACN); hence, it can be used for the determination of APX and CLOP in the fixed-dose combination tablets.