Development of a liquid chromatographic assay for an anti-HIV tablet containing lamivudine, zidovudine and TMC278.HCL

A liquid chromatographic method was developed to analyse a tablet containing three anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) compounds: lamivudine, zidovudine and a compound with the code name TMC278.HCl. Due to the presence of UV absorbing chromophores in the three active components, a single LC method with UV detection was developed. A Hypersil BDS C18 column was used as stationary phase and the assay was performed with gradient elution using mobile phases containing acetonitrile, 0.2 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate and water. The sample pretreatment is performed by treating the formulation with dimethyl sulfoxide–water (1:1) followed by filtration. After method development, the influence of the different chromatographic parameters on the separation, the interference of other active compounds and excipients, the repeatability and the linearity were investigated. The method was shown to be robust, selective, linear and repeatable. Finally, the content of the compounds in the tablet was determined.