Method development, validation and stability study of ritonavir in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage form by spectrophotometric method

Background: Ritonavir is a protease inhibitor and mostly used as a booster for increasing the bioavailability of other protease inhibitors like Atazanavir Sulfate and Lopinavir. Aims: Quality assessment of the new dosage form of Ritonavir i.e. tablets is very essential, so two sensitive, simple and precise methods are developed for quantification of Ritonavir in bulk and tablet dosage forms. Materials and Methods: The first method is based on first order derivative method and the second is based on area under curve method. Both the methods are validated according to international conference of harmonization (ICH) guidelines. A stability study of Ritonavir is done in UV - Visible Spectrophotometer under different stress conditions recommended by ICH guidelines. Results: The absorption maximum is found to be 239nm in methanol. The absorption maximum in first method is chosen at 253.2nm, and the linearity is found between 4 - 20 ΅g/ml with coefficient of correlation value 0.9981. In the second method, the range for area under curve selected is 237 - 242nm. The linearity is found between 4 -20 ΅g/ml with coefficient of correlation value 0.9992. Conclusion: The developed methods are validated and found to be simple, rapid, precise and cost-effective. The degradation study in tablet dosage form can be used as a stability indicating assay method