Novel RP-HPLC method for simultaneous determination of dapagliflozin and teneligliptin in tablet formulation and identification of degradation products by LC-MS/MS

Background Diabetes mellitus affects millions globally, necessitating effective management strategies. Glenmark Pharmaceutical Limited introduced a fixed-dose combination of teneligliptin and dapagliflozin in 2022 to address this need. However, existing methods for their simultaneous detection are limited, lacking forced degradation studies essential for assessing drug stability. Results A stability-indicating RP-HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous determination of dapagliflozin and teneligliptin in pharmaceutical formulations. The separation was efficiently achieved employing a Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm). The mobile phase comprised a mixture of 10 mM ammonium acetate buffer in water, methanol, and acetonitrile in a suitable proportion and delivered at a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min. Detection of the isocratic eluents was performed at 224 nm using a photodiode array (PDA) detector. Validation against various stress conditions, as per ICH guidelines, revealed significant degradation of teneligliptin primarily under acidic, basic, and oxidative stress. Moreover, liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based characterization was conducted for the primary degradation products of teneligliptin generated under acidic, basic, and oxidative conditions. Conclusions The developed RP-HPLC method with a stability-indicating approach provides an efficient means for the simultaneous determination of dapagliflozin and teneligliptin in pharmaceutical formulations. The significant degradation was observed under various stress conditions and also successfully separated the degradation products by this method. The proposed method directly applied for the characterization of degradation products and based on LC-MS/MS data the structure of degradation products was generated and also degradation pathways under various stress conditions were predicted. The proposed method ensured accurate and precise results in quality control process in pharmaceutical industry, and adherence to ICH validation guidelines affirms its reliability in assessing the stability of these compounds.