Quantitative determination of the anti-tumor agent tasquinimod in human urine by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Applying dried blood spot sampling with LCMS quantification in the clinical development phase of tasquinimod

Background: Tasquinimod is an orally active anticancer drug in late clinical development. Here we describe the development and validation of a bioanalytical method based upon dried blood spot analysis in combination with LCMS/MS and stable isotope dilution. Results & discussion: The present method was validated for accuracy, precision, linearity, selectivity, carry-over and ruggedness. Data elucidating stability of tasquinimod in dried blood spots and in blood at ambient temperature was investigated and found adequate. Furthermore, in a clinical study, incurred samples reanalysis was performed, and the correlation of blood concentration versus plasma concentrations of tasquinimod was investigated. Conclusion: The method described here is suitable for bioanalysis of tasquinimod in whole blood from humans in clinical studies.