UPLC versus HPLC on Drug Analysis: Advantageous, Applications and Their Validation Parameters

Liquid chromatography (LC) is a separation technique used in many different areas to aid the identification and quantification of substances in various matrices. LC techniques with various detection modes have been widely used for the sensitive and selective determination of trace amounts of pharmaceutical active compounds in biological samples and their dosage forms. A completely new system design with advanced technology has been developed, called ultra high performance liquid chromatography, which has evolved from high performance liquid chromatography. The application of LC methods to drug analysis introduces a powerful tool for therapeutic drug monitoring as well as for clinical research. The advantages of short turnaround time, method reliability, method sensitivity, and drug specificity justify the use of LC techniques for various groups of the drug active compounds. This review describes some of the principles of ultra high performance liquid chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography, validation of these methods, system suitability tests for the methods, and application of methods to pharmaceutical analysis in the last 3 years.