Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of finasteride and tadalafil in recently FDA approved Entadfi™ capsules

Entadfi™ is a recently FDA approved pharmaceutical combination capsule of finasteride and tadalafil. It was prescribed for the treatment of urinary tract disorders caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia in men. This paper introduced the first spectrophotometric methods for simultaneous determination of finasteride and tadalafil in the pure form and in the pharmaceutical capsules. UV absorption spectra of finasteride and tadalafil exhibited overlap hindered the direct simultaneous determination of the cited drugs. The UV absorption spectra of finasteride and tadalafil were transformed to the second order derivative. Finasteride could be determined selectively at 230.80 nm without interference from tadalafil. Moreover, tadalafil could be determined selectively at 292 nm without interference from finasteride. The ratio spectra of the studied drugs were derived and the derived ratio spectra of each drug were transformed to the first order derivative. Finasteride could be determined selectively at 218.80 nm without interference from tadalafil. Moreover, tadalafil could be determined selectively at 289.60 nm without interference from finasteride. The methods showed linearity with an excellent correlation coefficient in the concentration range of 10–140 µg/mL for finasteride and 3–40 µg/mL for tadalafil. The methods were validated following ICH guidelines for accuracy, precision, robustness, limit of detection, limit of quantification, and selectivity. The methods were found to be sensitive with LOD values for finasteride and tadalafil of 2.406 µg/mL and 0.876 µg/mL using the second derivative with zero crossing method and 2.229 µg/mL and 0.815 µg/mL using the first derivative of ratio spectra method. The methods were successfully applied for the determination of the studied drugs in their laboratory prepared mixtures, with mean percent recovery for finasteride and tadalafil of 99.37% and 99.17% using the second derivative with zero crossing method and 99.74% and 99.56% using the first derivative of ratio spectra method. Furthermore, the described methods were successfully applied for determination of the studied drugs in Entadfi™ capsules without interference from excipients. Based on the proposed results, the described methods could be utilized as simple method for the quality control of the studied drugs.