Quantitative determination of the antidepressant vortioxetine and its major human metabolite in plasma.

BACKGROUND

Vortioxetine is a novel antidepressant that has been developed in a joint partnership between H. Lundbeck A/S and the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd.

RESULTS

A number of bioanalytical methods have been developed in order to support the nonclinical and clinical development of the drug. Method performance, long-term stability, urine analysis, unspecific binding and metabolites analysis are presented and discussed.

CONCLUSION

Two different method applications for the quantification of vortioxetine and its major human metabolite in human plasma, an isocratic cation exchange HPLC-MS/MS method utilizing C8-SPE sample extracts and a reversed-phase UPLC-MS/MS method with gradient elution of protein precipitated sample extracts, have been validated according to current regulatory standards and applied in support to a large number of nonclinical as well as clinical studies.