New, sensitive and validated spectrofluorimetric method for the estimation of etoposide in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations

A new, simple and sensitive spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the routine estimation of etoposide, an anticancer drug, in bulk and in pharmaceutical formulations. The medium selected for the estimation of etoposide was methanol: phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) in a ratio of 70:30 v/v. Excitation and emission wavelengths used were 240 and 324 nm respectively. The method was validated according to ICH and U.S.P guidelines. Linearity range was 200-1000 ng/ml with detection and quantitation limits of 23 ng/ml and 72 ng/ml respectively. Regression equation obtained was Fluorescence Intensity = 6.704 (Concentration in ng/ml) + 115.4. The drug was found to be stable and there was no interference from the excipients present in different formulations of etoposide.