Bioanalysis in clinical development of tasquinimod using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

Tasquinimod (ABR-215050) is an oral drug in clinical development for treatment of patients with castrate resistant prostate cancer. This paper describes a method for the determination of tasquinimod in human plasma. The method is based on liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) using stable isotope labeled tasquinimod as internal standard (IS). The plasma samples were processed by protein precipitation using acidic acetonitrile containing the IS. The precipitated samples were centrifuged and the supernatant was injected directly into the LC–MS/MS system. Chromatographic separation was performed on a reversed phase column using fast gradient elution, with a total run cycle time of 4 min. The method was validated with respect to accuracy, precision, dynamic range, lower limit of quantification, selectivity and robustness. Furthermore, the stability of tasquinimod in spiked plasma, in processed extracts and in incurred samples was thoroughly studied. The method was validated in the range of 1.0–2400 nmol/L, defining the lower and upper limits of quantification. The repeatability, reproducibility and overall bias were 1.5–7.1%, 3.5–7.4%, and 1.3–4.7%, respectively, in the range of 1–2000 nmol/L. Excellent selectivity was demonstrated in the validation, as well as in study samples from both healthy volunteers and cancer patients. Robustness was demonstrated by the calculated carry-over as low as 0.06%, and by an incurred sample reproducibility (ISR) experiment where 97% of the reanalyzed samples fulfilled the acceptance criteria of 20% deviation from initial analysis result. Also, tasquinimod was found to be stable in all investigated matrices, including in incurred samples. In an incurred sample stability (ISS) investigation, tasquinimod was demonstrated to be stable for 24 months, and 97% of the reanalyzed samples were within 20% from the initial analysis result. In conclusion, the method was demonstrated to be accurate, precise, robust and reliable for the determination of tasquinimod. The method was successfully used in several clinical studies for the support of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic evaluations.