Sensitive spectrofluorimetric assay based on micelle enhanced protocol for the determination of hepatitis C antiviral agent (simeprevir): Application to dosage form and human plasma

Simeprevir (SMV) is a newly introduced, powerful hepatitis C antiviral agent. We hereby introduce a validated rapid, sensitive and straight forward fluorimetric method for its estimation (λex 290 nm, λem 428 nm). The proposed method depends on 2.2 folds strengthening of the SMV original emission intensity through modification of the micro-environment of the drug using buffered aqueous solution of Tween-80. There was a linear relationship between SMV concentration and corresponding fluorescence intensity between 0.05 –1.0 µg mL−1 with determination coefficient of 0.9996. The detection and quantitation limits were 0.016 and 0.048 µg mL−1, respectively. The proposed method was effectively used to quantify SMV in dosage form and spiked human plasma without significant interference from matrix.