Characterization of Degradation Products of Bisoprolol by LC-MS and In-silico Determination of Toxicity and Biological Activity Prediction of its Degradation Product: A Comprehensive Approach during Drug Development

Abstract

The stability of bisoprolol in tablet and bulk form was developed and validated using chromatographic methods. The bisoprolol was exposed to oxidizing agents like hydrogen peroxide, heat (dry and wet) and photolytic conditions, acid, alkali, and water hydrolysis. However, considerable degradation was observed in acid, alkali, oxidative, and wet heat thermal conditions. The drug’s stability under photolytic and dry heat conditions was established. The drug and its degradation products were separated on ODS C-18 with the specification of (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) and the mobile phase containing acetonitrile and phosphate buffer (20 mM, pH 8) (60:40, v/v). According to ICH Q2 (R1) all method validation parameters are verified. Determination of the active pharmaceutical ingredient was not interfered by excipients or degradation products. In the 6–14 μg/mL range, the response was shown to be linear. One degradation product’s LC-MS m/z values and fragmentation patterns matched an impurity mentioned in the drug’s European Pharmacopoeia monograph. The remaining three were unidentified degradation products. LC-MS fragmentation experiments were used to characterize the products. The findings may lead to the suggestion of a more thorough drug degradation mechanism. The Toxtree software (Version 3.1.1) was then used to forecast the toxicity of the degradation products. Additional toxicity determination was carried out by using in-silico method.