Aim: To develop and validate a simple method using UPLC-MS/MS for determination of apatinib and its three active metabolites in a Phase IV clinical trial. Materials & methods: All compounds were separated on a Hypersil GOLD™ aQ C18 Polar Endcapped LC column (50 × 2.1 mm, 1.9 μm, Thermo) using 5 mmol/l ammonium acetate with 0.1% formic acid:acetonitrile (20:80, v/v) as the mobile phase after a rapid liquid-liquid extraction. This method was validated over the linear concentration range of 1.00-1000 ng/ml for each compound. Results: The interassay precision and accuracy were less than ±15%. The validated method was successfully applied to determine concentrations of clinical samples in non-small-cell lung cancer patients.
Keywords: UPLC–MS/MS; active metabolites; apatinib; therapeutic drug monitoring.