Quality by design with design of experiments approach for development of a stability-indicating LC method for enzalutamide and its impurities in soft gel dosage formulation.

A novel ultra-performance liquid chromatographic (UPLC) method has been developed and approved for the quantitative determination of enzalutamide (ENZ) and its impurities in drug product dosage form by applying the quality by design with design of experiments approach. An efficient chromatographic separation was achieved on a Waters ACQUITY CSH C18 (100 × 2.1 mm × 1.7 µm) column in gradient elution mode. A mixture of potassium phosphate monobasic buffer and acetonitrile (10 mm, adjusted to pH 4.0 with 1% orthophosphoric acid) at a flow rate of 0.2 mL min-1 (column temperature at 40°C) under ultraviolet detection at 270 nm was used for quantitation. The peak resolution among ENZ and its impurities (Impurity-1, Impurity-2, Impurity-3, Impurity-4, Impurity-5, Impurity-6 and Impurity-7) was greater than 2.5. Regression analysis confers an R2 value (correlation coefficient) higher than 0.999 for the active substance and impurities. The detection level for ENZ impurities was at a level below 0.015% (0.12 µg/mL). The accuracy levels for different compounds were close to 100%. The inter- and intra-day precisions for ENZ and impurities were evaluated and their relative standard deviation (%) values were less than 3.5. Our results show that the UPLC-UV stability-indicating method will be an essential tool that could determine the drug product's impurities and be useful in regular quality control and stability studies of the ENZ drug product dosage form.

Understanding taxanes in prostate cancer; importance of intratumoral drug accumulation.

BACKGROUND: Resistance to docetaxel is common in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and may be caused by sub-therapeutic intratumoral drug concentrations. Cabazitaxel demonstrated survival benefit in docetaxel-pretreated and docetaxel-refractory patients. In this study, we investigated whether the superior antitumor activity of cabazitaxel in mCRPC is explained by higher intratumoral cabazitaxel levels. Since recent studies suggest a reduced efficacy of docetaxel following treatment with novel androgen receptor (AR)-targeted agents, we also investigated taxane efficacy in an enzalutamide-resistant tumor model. METHODS: Intratumoral concentrations of docetaxel and cabazitaxel were correlated with antitumor activity in docetaxel-naïve, docetaxel-resistant, and enzalutamide-resistant patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) of prostate cancer. RESULTS: Intratumoral drug levels were negatively related to intrinsic and acquired resistance to docetaxel. Also, the observed stronger antitumor activity of cabazitaxel was associated with increased cumulative exposure and higher intratumoral of cabazitaxel concentrations in all PDXs. CONCLUSIONS: The superior antitumor activity of cabazitaxel in docetaxel- and enzalutamide-resistant tumors can be partly attributed to higher intratumoral drug concentrations. Especially for patients who are intrinsically resistant to docetaxel resulting from suboptimal intratumoral docetaxel concentrations, cabazitaxel may be the preferred chemotherapeutic agent. Prostate 76:927-936, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Quantification of Newly Discovered Anti-Cancer Drug Enzalutamide in Bulk and Synthetic Mixture by Stability Indicating TLC Method.

OBJECTIVE: An impressionable, discriminatory and precise stability indicating high performance thin layer chromatographic method has been developed and validated for the estimation of Enzalutamide in bulk and synthetic mixture. METHOD: The method engaged HPTLC aluminium plates pre-coated with silica gel 60F-254 as the stationary phase while the solvent system was ethyl acetate: toluene (4.5:5.5, v/v). The Rf value of enzalutamide was detected to be 0. 39 ± 0. 005 and the densitometric analysis was carried out in absorbance mode at 246 nm. The linear regression analysis data for the calibration plots presented a virtuous linear relationship for enzalutamide over a concentration range of 20 - 1000ng/band. RESULTS: The limit of detection and limit of quantification for enzalutamide was found to be 9.05 and 27.43 ng/band. Enzalutamide was imperilled to acid and alkali hydrolysis, chemical oxidation, dry heat degradation and photolytic degradation. The degraded product peaks were well resolved from the pure drug peak with substantial difference in their Rf values. CONCLUSION: Stressed samples were assayed using developed TLC technique. Suggested method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness. The method was successfully applied to the estimation of enzalutamide in synthetic mixture.

Quantification of 2-aminoisobutyric acid impurity in enzalutamide bulk drug substance using hydrophilic interaction chromatography with fluorescence detection.

A rapid procedure for the determination of 2-aminoisobutyric acid in enzalutamide bulk drug substance based on hydrophilic interaction chromatography with fluorescence detection was developed. Fluorescence detection after postcolumn derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde/2-mercaptoethanol was carried out at excitation and emission wavelength of 345 nm and 450 nm, respectively. The postcolumn reaction conditions such as reaction temperature, mobile phase and derivatization reagent flow rate and the reagents concentrations were studied and optimized due to steric hindrance of amino group of 2-aminoisobutyric acid. The derivatization reaction was applied for the hydrophilic interaction chromatography method which was based on COSMOSIL HILIC column with a mobile phase consisting of a mixture of 25 mmol/L acetic acid adjusted to pH 5.5 (using 1 mol/L potassium hydroxide) and acetonitrile using an isocratic elution (28:72, ν/ν). The benefit of the reported approach consists in a simple sample pretreatment and a quick and sensitive hydrophilic interaction chromatography method. The developed method was validated in terms of linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, accuracy, precision and selectivity according to the International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines. The developed method was demonstrated to be applied for the analysis of 2-AIBA in routine quality control evaluation of commercial samples of enzalutamide bulk drug substance.

Development and validation of an UPLC-MS/MS method for the therapeutic drug monitoring of oral anti-hormonal drugs in oncology.

A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry assay was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of anti-hormonal compounds abiraterone, anastrozole, bicalutamide, Δ(4)-abiraterone (D4A), N-desmethyl enzalutamide, enzalutamide, Z-endoxifen, exemestane and letrozole for the purpose of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). Plasma samples were prepared with protein precipitation. Analyses were performed with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer operating in the positive and negative ion-mode. The validated assay ranges from 2 to 200 ng/mL for abiraterone, 0.2-20 ng/mL for D4A, 10-200 ng/mL for anastrozole and letrozole, 1-20 ng/mL for Z-endoxifen, 1.88-37.5 ng/mL for exemestane and 1500-30,000 ng/mL for enzalutamide, N-desmethyl enzalutamide and bicalutamide. Due to low sensitivity for exemestane, the final extract of exemestane patient samples should be concentrated prior to injection and a larger sample volume should be prepared for exemestane patient samples and QC samples to obtain adequate sensitivity. Furthermore, we observed a batch-dependent stability for abiraterone in plasma at room temperature and therefore samples should be shipped on ice. This newly validated method has been successfully applied for routine TDM of anti-hormonal drugs in cancer patients.

Combination of palbociclib with enzalutamide shows in vitro activity in RB proficient and androgen receptor positive triple negative breast cancer cells.

OBJECTIVES: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks specific drug targets and remains challenging. Palbociclib, a cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor is approved for metastatic estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and human epithermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer. The nature of cell cycle inhibition by palbociclib suggests its potential in TNBC cells. Retinoblastoma (RB, a known substrate of CDK4/6) pathway deregulation is a frequent occurrence in TNBC and studies have revealed that pharmacological CDK4/6 inhibition induces a cooperative cytostatic effect with doxorubicin in RB-proficient TNBC models. In addition, recent studies reported that anti-androgen therapy shows preclinical efficacy in androgen-receptor (AR)-positive TNBC cells. Here we examined the effect of palbociclib in combination with an anti-androgen enzalutamide in TNBC cells. METHOD: MDA-MB-453, BT-549, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 TNBC cell lines were used for in vitro studies. Protein expressions were assessed by Western blot analysis. Cytostatic effect was examined by MTT assay. Cell cycle and apoptosis were examined by flow cytometry. RESULTS: Palbociclib showed inhibitory effect in RB-proficient TNBC cells, and enzalutamide inhibited cell viability in AR-positive TNBC cells. Enzalutamide treatment could enhance the palbociclib-induced cytostatic effect in AR-positive/RB-proficient TNBC cells. In addition, palbociclib-mediated G1 arrest in AR-positive/RB-proficient TNBC cells was attenuated by RB knockdown. CONCLUSION: Our study provided a preclinical rationale in selecting patients who might have therapeutic benefit from combining CDK4/6 inhibitors with AR antagonists.

Structural elucidation of the impurities in Enzalutamide bulk drug and the development, validation of corresponding HPLC method.

As the first approved androgen receptor(AR) signalling inhibitor, Enzalutamide was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as an anticancer drug used to treat castration-resistant prostate cancer in 2012. In this manuscript, six potential impurities of Enzalutamide including process impurities and degradation products were studied. The structures of six impurities obtained by synthesis were characterized and confirmed by IR, NMR and MS techniques. In addition, an efficient chromatographic method to separate and quantify these impurities was developed, which achieved on Inertsil ODS-3 column (250mm×4.6mm,5µm) in gradient mode with a mixture of acetonitrile and the ammonium acetate buffer (10mM, pH adjusted to 4.0 with glacial acetic acid). The method was validated with respect to specificity, precision, accuracy, and sensitivity and satisfactory result was achieved. The method was demonstrated to be applicable in routine quality control and stability evaluation of Enzalutamide.

Capillary electrochromatography with thermo-optical absorbance detection for the analysis of phenylthiohydantoin-amino acids.

Capillary columns were packed with 3 microns C18 stationary phase, interfaced with an ultraviolet-laser based thermo-optical absorbance detector, and evaluated for separation of a mixture of phenylthiohydantoin-amino acids. These columns demonstrated consistent performance with a relative standard deviation (RSD) for migration time of less than 1.5% and a separation efficiency of 216,000 plates/m for the electroosmotic flow marker, thiourea. The thermo-optical absorbance detector was based on a 248 nm krypton-fluoride excimer laser. Detection limits (3 sigma) ranged from 1.6 to 4.8 x 10(-7) M phenylthiohydantoin (PTH)-amino acid injected onto the column, which is a factor of three superior to those obtained in micellar electrokinetic chromatographic analysis of these compounds. A mixture of 17 PTH amino acids was injected onto the capillary; 13 components were nearly baseline resolved in 14 min.

A simple method for differentiating Leu and Ile in peptides. The negative-ion mass spectra of [M-H]- ions of phenylthiohydantoin Leu and Ile.

Phenylthiohydantoin (PTH) amino acid derivatives are formed during sequential Edman degradation of peptides and proteins. Isomeric Leu and Ile (which differ only in respectively having iso-butyl and sec-butyl chains, and are often difficult to distinguish by conventional mass spectrometric techniques) may be readily identified by the characteristic decompositions of the [M-H]- ions of their PTH derivatives. The Leu spectrum shows major loss of propane, while that of the Ile derivative shows elimination of both methane and ethane. This method may be used routinely with 10 microgram quantities of peptide material.

Separation of barbiturates and phenylthiohydantoin amino acids using the thermally tuned tandem column concept.

There are many more choices of column type than of eluent type for method development in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. It is common to switch between different column types or between the same type from different suppliers to achieve the desired separations. The key difficulty in modulating band spacing by adjusting the column type is that it is a discontinuous, "hit or miss" proposition. The thermally tuned tandem column (T3C) concept effectively solves this problem by connecting two columns in series and independently controlling the two column temperatures. The columns are chosen to have distinctively different chromatographic selectivities (band spacing), so that the unresolved peaks on one column are separated by the other. The optimized separation in the T3C is achieved by simultaneously tuning the two column temperatures. In this study, we used the T3C combination of a carbon and a conventional bonded phase for the separation of barbiturates and phenylthiohydantoin amino acids (PTH-amino acids). Good peak shapes and comparable retention times were observed on the two phases at room temperature. The selectivities on the two phases are quite different. Baseline separations were easily achieved with the T3C set although neither column could individually resolve all the peaks. We further compared the separation of barbiturates optimized by the T3C approach with that optimized by adjusting the mobile phase. We found that T3C gave a better separation. We believe that the T3C combination of a carbon phase and a bonded conventional reversed-phase material provides a powerful and general method to optimize the separation of various mixtures.

Open-flask alkaline hydrolysis of amino acid phenylthiohydantoin derivatives.

It is suggested that the open-flask system for the acid hydrolysis of proteins described earlier can also be used to advantage for the alkaline hydrolysis of amino acid phenylthiohydantoin derivatives obtained in protein sequential analysis according to Edman. Results obtained under nitrogen and argon atmospheres are reported for the hydrolysis of 0.5 mumole of each phenylthiohydantoin derivative, which is the amount of protein that is usually employed in an automatic sequenator.

Improved TLC systems for rapid resolution of phenyl thiohydantoin amino acids.

Two new solvent systems, n-hexane + propionic acid (26:5, v/v) and chloroform + acetone (29:3, v/v), for the rapid resolution and identification of an 18-component mixture of phenylthiohydantoin amino acids are reported. Using these systems certain difficult combinations of phenylthiohydantoin amino acids are resolved. Two more solvent systems, viz chloroform + acetic acid (27:3, v/v) and chloroform + methanol (30:4, v/v), are developed to resolve phenylthiodantoin derivatives of aspartic and glutamic acids.

High-sensitivity phenylthiohydantoin amino acid analysis using conventional and microbore chromatography.

Reversed-phase microbore high-performance liquid chromatography was investigated for high-sensitivity analysis of phenylthiohydantoin (PTH) amino acids. A mixed nitrile alkylsilane bonded phase was developed and ternary gradient elution conditions were devised for resolution of the common PTH amino acids. Elution conditions were developed with a conventional 150 X 4.6 mm I.D. column and transferred to a 150 X 1 mm I.D. microbore column. The performance of these columns was evaluated in terms of PTH amino acid resolution, enhanced sample detectability, and retention time precision. For this work a general purpose high-performance liquid chromatograph was modified to reduce extra column band broadening and a preformed gradient elution technique was developed to achieve rapid analysis times at microbore flow-rates. The microbore high-performance liquid chromatographic system is useful for high-sensitivity analysis of PTH amino acids in micro-sequencing applications.

Identification of the phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of amino acids by high pressure liquid chromatography, using a ternary, isocratic solvent system.

In recent years high-pressure liquid chromatography has found increasing application in protein chemistry for the identification of the phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of amino acids. For routine microsequencing none of the solvent systems so far published have proved ideal for this application. By using a ternary solvent system we have been able to achieve a rapid isocratic separation of the usual amino acid derivatives with the exception of the pair Gln greater than PhNCS/Ser greater than PhNCS. In practice discriminating between these two derivatives is seldom a problem because Gln greater than PhNCS is partially de-amidated during the conversion and is therefore always accompanied by Glu greater than PhNCS. The dependence of the retention times from pH, buffer composition, buffer concentration, and temperature will be discussed.

The use of omicron-phthalaldehyde for fluorescence detection in conventional amino acid analyzers. Sub-nanomole sensitivity in the analysis of phenylthiohydantoin-amino acids.

A conventional amino acid analyzer has been modified for fluorescence detection using omicron-phthalaldehyde. The original ninhydrin system is retained, and the amino acid analyzer can be used with either of the detection systems. The fluorescence detection is used for identification of PTH-amino acids after back hydrolysis, when nanomole amounts of proteins are sequenced. Impurities in the water and the chemicals used for buffer preparations are limiting factors for the sensitivity of the fluorescence detection system. A 100-fold increase in sensitivity above the original ninhydrin system is obtained.

[Separation by high-performance liquid chromatography of phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of amino acids released by Edman degradation (author's transl)]. / Séparation par chromatographie en phase liquide rapide des dérivés phénylthiohydantoine des amino-acides rencontrés lors de la dégradation d'Edman

The separation by high-performance liquid chromatography of seventeen phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of amino acids released after Edman degradation of proteins is described. Sixteen phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of amino acids are differentiated within 40 min by liquid-liquid partition on a column packed with Micropak CN (moderately polar alkyl nitrile phase bonded on 10mum porous silica microparticles) and gradient elution with hexane=methylene chloride-isopropanol mixtures.

Design and operation of a completely automated Beckman microsequencer.

A unique, efficient, and inexpensive system has been designed and built for the automatic conversion of anilinothiazolinone derivatives extracted from a Beckman spinning-cup sequencer with subsequent on-line high-pressure liquid chromatography separation of the phenylthiohydantoin derivatives. The Auto Converter-Auto Sampler system is controlled by a tape programmer or microprocessor and operates by transfer of the sample from the conversion vial into an HPLC injection loop by nitrogen pressure. Incorporation of a minor programming change on the sequencer allows the introduction of nitrogen vapor into the spinning cup during phenylisothiocyanate coupling. These modifications have resulted in a completely automated subnanomole protein sequencer.

Detection of peptidyl-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine by amino acid analysis and microsequencing techniques.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) is an amino acid that occurs naturally in the primary sequence of many proteins and peptides. Detection of peptidyl-DOPA, however, can be elusive. This is due (i) to its coelution with leucine on most of the ion exchangers used in amino acid analysis and (ii) to the coelution of phenylthiohydantoin (PTH)-DOPA with PTH-alanine during routine C18 reversed-phase HPLC following automated Edman degradation. By application of appropriately timed temperature and/or gradient modifications during chromatography, DOPA and its PTH derivative can be adequately resolved for detection by both amino acid analysis and gas-phase sequencing.

Particle beam liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry on a double-focusing sector instrument.

A commercially available particle beam interface developed by the Vestec Corporation has been coupled to a double-focusing high-resolution mass spectrometer (VG ZAB 2F) via a momentum separator. An ultraviolet detector was in-line with the interface and allowed monitoring of the eluting materials. With this instrumentation, complete electron-impact (EI) mass spectra on synthetic mixtures of steroids, nucleosides, and several derivatives of amino acids were recorded. Amongst these the EI mass spectra of 2,4-dinitrophenyl, 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl and phenylthiohydantoin derivatives were obtained. The standard LC conditions used here (250 mm x 4.6 mm I.D., reversed-phase C18 column, 1.0 or 1.5 ml/min flow-rate, isocratic or gradient programming) allowed separation of the mixtures. The resulting mass spectra were compared with those obtained using a direct insertion probe. The agreement was excellent in most cases. Sensitivity measurements were performed on cholesterol and caffeine. A complete low-resolution mass spectrum can be obtained on 100 ng of cholesterol. Single-ion monitoring of the M+.of 200 pg of caffeine gave a 4:1 signal-to-noise ratio at m/z 194. Complete high-resolution mass spectra were obtained on 5 micrograms of cholesterol (loop injection) and on every peak of a five-steroid mixture of 5 micrograms each. The accuracy of the mass measurements were better than 5 m.m.u. for most cases. Three to four scans could be obtained for each liquid chromatographic peak. Mass-analyzed ion kinetic energy spectra were recorded on the M+.of 2.5 micrograms of cholesterol at m/z 386. Similarly the B/E linked scan of the same ion was recorded on 2.5 micrograms and 500 ng.