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What is Method Validation?

Method validation is the process of proving that an

analytical method is acceptable for its intended purpose.

• verifying that a method is fit-for-purpose, i.e suitable for solving a

particular analytical problem

• The process consists of the establishment of the performance

characteristics and limitations of the method.

Method validation is necessary in analytical laboratory to ensure that

reliable analytical procedures are used under the defined conditions.

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Why Method Validation is Necessary?

• To increase the value of test results

• To justify customer’s trust
• To trace criminal
• To prove what we claim is true

Examples:

• To value goods for trade purposes

• To support health care
• To check the quality of drinking water

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Method Development and Validation

to assure that an analytical method

is accurate, reproducible and rugged
over the specific range

Compliance to Standards:
FDA, GLP, ISO 17025, cGMP etc.

Assurance of Laboratory Reliability

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FDA-Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States
Department of Health and Human. The FDA is responsible for protecting and
promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety,
tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter
pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood
transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices
(ERED), veterinary products, and cosmetics.

cGMP – current good manufacturing practice

cGMPs provide for systems that assure proper design, monitoring, and control of
manufacturing processes and facilities. Example human pharmaceuticals.
Consumers expect that each batch of medicines they take will meet quality
standards so that they will be safe and effective.

GLP- good laboratory practice

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 Outline

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Method
Development and Method
Validation validation
Quality in selected
Analytical samples
Laboratory

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METHOD VALIDATION

Validation of an analytical method is primarily

concerned with:

– the identification of the sources of potential

errors.

– quantification of the potential errors in the

method.

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 METHOD VALIDATION

A method that is valid in one situation could be invalid

in another situation.

Validation of analytical procedures is the process of

determining the suitability of a given methodology for
providing useful analytical data.

The process of the method validation begins with the

planned and systematic collection by the application
of the validation data to support the analytical
procedures

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 METHOD VALIDATION

Methods need to be validated or revalidated:

• before their introduction into routine use.

• whenever the conditions change for which the

method has been validated, e.g., instrument with
different characteristics.

• whenever the method is changed, and the change is

outside the original scope of the method.

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Method Validation
Method validation data submitted should
INCLUDE the following issues:

Accuracy
Precision
Limit of Detection (LOD)
Method Limit of Quantitation (LOQ)
Validation
Specificity
Linearity and Range
Ruggedness/Robustness
System Suitability
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ACCURACY
Accuracy is the measure of exactness of an analytical
method, or the closeness of agreement between the
measured value and the value that is accepted as a
conventional true value or an accepted reference value.

The true value for accuracy assessment can be obtained in several

ways:
(i) compare results of the method with results from an
established reference method.

(ii) assessed by analyzing a sample with known concentrations,

for example, a certified reference material, and comparing the
measured value with the true value as supplied with the
material.

(iii) If such certified reference material is not available, a blank

sample matrix of interest can be spiked with a known
concentration by weight or volume and determined its
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recovery.
ACCURACY (continued)

The determination of Accuracy usually requires a “gold

standard” or an accepted method to which a new
method can be compared.

Accuracy assessment is normally calculated as

Percent Recovery (%R) and is done by analyzing
Matrix Spikes.

% Recovery = amount detected x 100

amount spike

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 METHOD VALIDATION : ACCURACY
The concentration should cover the range of concern and should
particularly include one concentration close to the quantitation limit.
Analyte recovery at different concentrations

Active Ingred. [ %] Analyte ratio Unit Mean

recovery
[%]
100 1 100% 98-102
>=10 10-1 10% 98-102
>=1 10-2 1% 97-103
>=0.1 10-3 0.1 % 95-105
0.01 10-4 100 ppm 90-107
0.001 10-5 10 ppm 80-110
0.0001 10-6 1 ppm 80-110
0.00001 10-7 100 ppb 80-110
0.000001 10-8 10 ppb 60-115
0.0000001 10-9 1 ppb 40-120 13
PRECISION

The Precision of a method is the degree of agreement among

individual test results, when the procedure is applied repeatedly to
multiple samplings of a homogeneous sample.

Precision is the closeness of agreement between independent test

results obtained under stipulated conditions. It is a measure of random
errors, and may be expressed as repeatability and reproducibility.

Precision is usually expressed in terms of standard deviation or

Relative Standard Deviation percent (RSD). It is often expressed as a
percentage.

The two most common precision measures are:

“repeatability”
“reproducibility”
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 PRECISION (continued)

How to measure the precision?

At least, 5 or 6 determinations of three different matrices, at 2 or 3

different concentrations should be done, and the relative standard
deviation was calculated.

The acceptance criteria for precision depend very much on the type of
analysis:

• in pharmaceuticals quality control, precision of better than 1 % RSD

• for biological samples (blood, urine) the precision is more like 10%-15%
• for environmental and food samples, the precision is very much
dependent on the sample matrix, the concentration of the analyte and on
the analysis technique. It can vary between 2% and more than 20%.

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 PRECISION (continued)

Precision under “repeatability, r” conditions:

same method on identical test items, in the same laboratory, by the
same operator, using the same equipment, within short time intervals.
e.g: Within-day variability

It gives a measure of variability to be expected when a method is

performed by a single analyst on the same equipment over a short
timescale. Variability is expected when a sample is analyzed in
duplicate

Precision under “reproducibility, R” conditions:

same method on identical test items, in different laboratories, with
different operators, using different equipment.

Usually, the sample is analyzed by a number of laboratories for

comparative purposes (Inter-laboratory excercise).
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 PRECISION (continued)

Reproducibility is the closeness of agreement between test

results obtained with the same method on identical test material
in different laboratories with different operators using different
equipment.

The objective of conducting reproducibility is to verify that the

method will provide the same results within different laboratories.
The reproducibility of an analytical method is determined by
analyzing aliquots from homogeneous lots in different laboratories
with different analysts and by using operational and
environmental conditions that may differ from but are still within
the specified parameters of the method (inter-laboratory tests).
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 PRECISION (continued)

Typical variations (factors) affecting a method’s reproducibility:

• Differences in room temperature and humidity

• Operators with different experience and thoroughness

• Equipment with different characteristics, e.g. delay volume of an

HPLC system

• Variations in material and instrument conditions, e.g. in HPLC,

mobile phases composition, pH, flow rate of mobile phase

• Equipment and consumables of different ages

• Columns from different suppliers or different batches

• Solvents, reagents and other material with different quality 18

 Intermediate Precision
Normally for everyday laboratory practice,

Intermediate precision is performed by repeating testing on the

different combinations of analyst, equipment, reagents and time
within one laboratory. It is recommended to do 6-10
measurements on each of repeatability study.

For example, calculate the precision under repeatability

conditions (same method, same analyst but different equipment;
or same equipment same method but different analyst).

Requirements:
According to International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH),
both repeatability and intermediate precision should be tested .

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Evaluation of Precision

Measurement of 10 samples (n=10) fo each concentration level.

Calculate mean,

The standard deviation is a measure of how precise the average is,

Standard deviation, S =
The relative standard deviation (RSD) is often times more
convenient. It is always expressed as percentage (%)

RSD (%) =
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 METHOD VALIDATION: PRECISION
Estimated precision data as a function the of analyte concentration
Analyte concentration versus precision within or between days

Analyte % Analyte ratio Unit RSD (%)

100 1 100% 1.3
10 10-1 10% 2.8
1 10-2 1% 2.7
0.1 10-3 0.1 % 3.7
0.01 10-4 100 ppm 5.3
0.001 10-5 10 ppm 7.3
0.0001 10-6 1 ppm 11
0.00001 10-7 100 ppb 15
0.000001 10-8 10 ppb 21
0.0000001 10-9 1 ppb 30

The lower the concentration of analyte, the higher the precision obtained 21
 Accuracy and Precision

Low accuracy High Accuracy High Accuracy Low Accuracy

High Precision High Precision Low Precision Low Precision

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 LOD and LOQ
Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification
(LOQ) are two fundamental elements of method
validation that define the limitations of an analytical
method.

• LOD is the lowest concentration of an analyte in a

sample that can be detected, but not necessarily
quantified, under the stated conditions of the test.

• LOQ is the lowest concentration of an analyte in a

sample that can be determined with acceptable
precision and accuracy under the stated conditions
of test
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LOD (continued)

The Limit of Detection (LOD) of a method may be

defined as the concentration of analyte which
gives rise to a signal that is significantly different
from the negative control or blank.

The LOD is the lowest concentration of analyte

that can be distinguished from background.

The results obtained at the Limit of Detection are

not necessarily Precise or Accurate or
Quantitated.

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 LOD

Usually is expressed as concentration of analyte

generating an instrument response equivalent to three
times the noise (S/N ratio ~ 3)

In chromatography the detection limit is the injected

amount that results in a peak with a height at least three
times as high as the baseline noise level.

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Methods in estimating LOD and LOQ:

• Signal-to-noise ratio (S/N)

• Blank determination
• Linear regression
 Signal-to-noise ratio

The noise value was calculated based on the peak height of

the blank (solvent) around the retention time of each analyte.

Procedure:
• Run blank and the lowest concentration of analyte
• Run 10 replicates independently
• Measure the peak height values (noise magnitude was
measured by auto-integrator)
• Calculate LOD: S/N = 3, and
LOQ: S/N = 10
 Analytical Method Development

LOD, LOQ and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)

LOQ

Signal to Noise = 10:1

LOD
Signal to Noise = 3:1
Noise
 Blank Determination

• Analysis of independent sample blanks (10 replicates),

and calculate the mean concentration and the
standard deviations of the blank results
• LOD  xbi  3sbi
LOQ  xbi  10sbi
xbi  mean concentration of the blank
• s  standard deviation of the blank
b i
 Linear Regression

Based on linear calibration curve

y  a  bx
y: instrument response
x: analyte concentration
a: y-intercept
b: slope
 Linear Regression

3sa
LOD 
b
10 sa
LOQ 
b

sa  standard deviation of the blank

b  slope of the calibratio n curve
 Limit of Quantification (LOQ)

LOQ are the lowest concentrations of analyte in a

sample or specimen that can be measured with an
acceptable level of accuracy and precision.

A typical acceptable signal-to-noise ratio 1:10

(S/N=10)

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LOQ (continued)

To determine LOQ, if the required precision of the

method at the limit of quantitation has been specified:

A number of samples with decreasing amounts of the

analyte are injected six times.

The calculated RSD% of the precision is plotted against

the analyte amount. The amount that corresponds to the
previously defined required precision is equal to the
limit of quantitation.

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METHOD VALIDATION : LIMIT OF QUANTITATION

Limit of quantitation with the EURACHEM method.

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SPECIFICITY/SELECTIVITY (continued)

The Specificity of a method defines the ability of the

method to measure the analyte of interest to the
exclusion of other relevant components.

Selectivity describes the ability of an analytical

method to differentiate various substances in a
sample.

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SPECIFICITY/SELECTIVITY

Sometimes, it is difficult to identify a compound by using

one test alone. Therefore, another method needs to be
used to give more information.

Example:
UV/Vis spectra of a drug molecule is used for
identification purposes, however, the UV spectra of the
drug is the same as the UV spectra of some drug
impurities. Thus, the UV/Vis method on its own is not
specific.

But, by combining UV/Vis with another method ie. HPLC,

the compound of interest was resolved from any other
components of the sample and that the peak of interest
wasn’t overlapped with another interfering peak
Other examples: Application of GC/MS, LC/MS 37
SPECIFICITY/SELECTIVITY (continued)

Examples of pure and impure HPLC peaks

The chromatographic signal does not indicate any impurity in either peak.
Spectral evaluation, however, identifies the peak on the left as impure.

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METHOD VALIDATION: LINEARITY AND RANGE

LINEARITY

The linearity of a method is its ability to provide

measurement results that are directly proportional to
the concentration of the analyte, or are directly
proportional after mathematical transformation.

RANGE

The range of the method is the area between the lower

and the upper limits of quantitation that is also linear.

Within the range of the method, results are accurate,

precise and “linear”.
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LINEARITY AND RANGE (continued)

HOW TO DETERMINE LINEARITY AND RANGE?

(i) Five concentration levels are required to allow detection of
curvature in the plotted data. Standard should be prepared and
analysed a minimum of three times. Measure the responses.

(ii) Plot the graph analyte conventration vs responses.

(iii) The line generated should be submitted, together with slope,

intercept and correlation co-efficient data.

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LINEARITY AND RANGE (continued)

HOW TO DETERMINE LINEARITY AND RANGE?

The measured slope should demonstrate a clear

correlation between response and analyte concentration.

Acceptability of linearity data is often judge by examining

the correlation coefficient r2 and y-intercept of the linear
regression line for the response versus concentration plot.

(r >0.999 is generally considered as evidence of acceptable

fit of the data to the regression line) over the range
(nominal ± 20%).
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 LINEARITY AND RANGE

Graphical presentations of linearity plot of a caffeine sample using HPLC.

Plotting the sensitivity

(response/amount) gives
clear indication of the
linear range.

Plotting the amount on a

logarithmic scale has a
significant advantage for
wide linear ranges. Rc =
Line of constant response.

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ROBUSTNESS/RUGGEDNESS
Robustness can be defined as a measure of its
capability to remain unaffected by small, but
deliberate variations in method parameters and
provides an indication of its reliability during
normal usage.
- (involves internal factors to the method)

Ruggedness of a method is the degree of

reproducibility of test results obtained by the
analysis of same samples under a variety of
conditions, such as different laboratories, analysts,
instruments, different lot of reagents, days etc.
- (involves external factors to the method)
ROBUSTNESS/RUGGEDNESS (continued)

Ruggedness is the of reproducibility of the test results

obtained for identical samples under normal (but
variable) test conditions eg: different lab, analyst,
assay temperature …..
- involves external factors to the method

The Robustness of a procedure is a measure of its

capacity to remain unaffected by small but deliberate
variations in the method parameters and provides an
indication of its reliability in normal usage eg: mobile
phase composition, temperature, flow rate ….
- involves internal factors to the method
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RUGGEDNESS /ROBUSTNESS (continued)

How to test the robustness of method:

Example:

Effects of the following changes in chromatographic

conditions will be determined:
- Methanol content in mobile phase adjusted by + 2%
- Mobile-phase pH adjusted by + 0.1 pH units
- Column temperature adjusted by + 5oC.
If these changes are within the limits that produce
acceptable results, they will be incorporated in the method
procedure or if the changes is insignificant, then the method
is robust. 45
 System Suitability

System suitability is the checking of a system to ensure system

performance before or during the analysis of unknowns.

To check system (equipment, electronics, samples, technique)

is working properly before any samples are analysed

Parameters such as plate count, tailing factors, resolution

and reproducibility (%RSD retention time and area for six
repetitions) are determined and compared against the
specifications set for the method.

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