Development and validation of assays for the quantification of β-D-N⁴-hydroxycytidine in human plasma and β-D-N⁴-hydroxycytidine-triphosphate in peripheral blood mononuclear cell lysates

The novel antiviral prodrug molnupiravir is under evaluation for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Molnupiravir is converted to β-D-N⁴-hydroxycytidine (NHC), which is the primary form found in systemic circulation. β-D-N⁴-hydroxycytidine-triphosphate (NHCtp) is the bioactive anabolite produced intracellularly. Sensitive and accurate bioanalytical methods are required to characterize NHC and NHCtp pharmacokinetics in clinical trials. Human K₂EDTA plasma or peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) lysates were spiked with NHC (plasma) or NHCtp (PBMC), respectively. Following the addition of isotopically-labeled internal standards and sample extraction via protein precipitation or lysate dilution, respectively, samples were subjected to liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) analysis. Methods were validated in accordance with FDA Bioanalytical Method Validation recommendations. NHC can be quantified in plasma with a lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 1 ng/mL; the primary linearity of the assay is 1–5000 ng/mL. Assay precision and accuracy were ≤ 6.40% and ≤ ± 6.37%, respectively. NHC is unstable in whole blood and has limited stability in plasma at room temperature. The calibration range for NHCtp in PBMC lysates is 1–1500 pmol/sample, and the assay has an LLOQ of 1 pmol/sample. Assay precision and accuracy were ≤ 11.8% and ≤± 11.2%. Ion suppression was observed for both analytes; isotopically-labeled internal standards showed comparable ion suppression, resulting in negligible (<5%) relative matrix effects. Sensitive, specific, and dynamic LC-MS/MS assays have been developed and validated for the quantification of NHC in plasma and NHCtp in PBMC lysates. The described methods are appropriate for use in clinical trials.