Quality by Design–Applied Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Determination of Enzalutamide Anti-Prostate Cancer Therapy Drug in Spiked Plasma Samples

This research article presents the Quality by Design (QbD)-finalised conditions for a method that uses liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of concentration of enzalutamide (ENZ), an atypical anticancer drug, in a drug formulation and in spiked plasma samples. Critical process attributes (CPA) considered to be the influential parameters in separation, identification, and quantification processes by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) were organic content, buffer strength, pH modifier, flow rate, spray voltage, sheath gas, and auxiliary gas that alter critical analytical attributes, such as retention time (R1) and area (R2). These factors were evaluated first in a factorial design (Taguchi orthogonal array design) and then extensively in a central composite design (CCD) to zero-in on the mobile phase for the quantification of ENZ standard drug and along with its internal standard (ENZIS) in spiked plasma samples and in formulation. Pareto chart from initial factorial design (Taguchi orthogonal array design) model suggested which of the CPA factors should be given the weightage, that is, to be exhaustively analysed in the CCD and response surface analysis. The elaborated parameters proposed by World Health Organization were studied by method validation, ie, selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision repeatability system-suitability tests, method robustness/ruggedness, sensitivity, and stability. The strategy followed gives an insight on the development of a robust QbD-compliant quantitative UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS method for ENZ drug containing plasma samples (spiked).