Development and validation of a stability-indicating LC method for the assay of adapalene in bulk drug and pharmaceutical formulations

A simple and sensitive reverse phase HPLC method for the determination of adapalene (ADP) in bulk drug samples and pharmaceutical formulations has been developed and validated. The separation of ADP was achieved on an Inertsil ODS-3V (5 mu m, 15 cm +/- 4.6 mm i.d.) column using UV detector at 230 nm. The mobile phase consisted of ammonium acetate (25 mM, pH 3.0), methanol and tetrahydrofuran (18: 42: 40 v/v). The linear range of detection was 2-200 mu g/mL (R = 0.9991). Intra- and inter-day assay relative standard deviation values were less than 0.5%. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of ADP in pharmaceutical preparations. The excipients commonly present in formulations did not interfere with the assay of ADP. Analytical parameters were calculated and complete statistical evaluation was performed.