Development of a multivariate model with desirability-based optimization for simultaneous determination of five co-administrated drugs for the management of COVID-19 infection in their dosage forms via validated RP-HPLC method

Abstract

More than 2.9 million people have died as a result of the global demographic impact of the coronavirus illness of 2019 (COVID-19). Numerous antiviral and anti-inflammatory medications have FDA approval to treat COVID-19 patients. For the simultaneous determination of COVID-19 utilized medications (Remdesivir, Moxifloxacin, Dexamethasone, Apixaban, and paracetamol) in their dosage forms, a sensitive technique has been developed and validated. The aforementioned medications were separated and quantified with the help of experimental design. The Box-Behnken design was used in the experiment to optimize the chromatographic method’s analytical parameters. It employed RP-HPLC with a UV detector. An INERTSIL ODS-3 C₁₈ column (5 µm, 250 × 4.6 mm) with mobile phase composed of acetonitrile: 30 mmoL potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer (pH = 7.5) (50:50, v/v), at room temperature was employed to separate the aforementioned drugs. Paracetamol was linear over the concentration range (1–50 µg/mL), Moxifloxacin (5–70 µg/mL), Apixaban (5–70 µg/mL), Dexamethasone (1–100 µg/mL), and Remdesivir (5–100 µg/mL). According to ICH guidelines, the new approach underwent thorough validation. Between the proposed method’s results and those from the reference or reported methods, there was no significant difference. The technique is simple to use in research of the cited medications in their dosage forms for quality control aspects.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Apixaban
• COVID-19
• dexamethasone
• moxifloxacin
• paracetamol
• QbD (quality by design)
• remdesivir

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.