Microchip electrophoresis: A suitable analytical technique for pharmaceuticals quality control? A critical review

Quality control (QC) is a major concern in the pharmaceutical industry to ensure medicines quality and patient's safety. QC analysis are currently performed using several well-known separative and spectroscopic techniques. However, current trends are focused on the development of high performance techniques for reducing analysis time and cost and decreasing ecological footprint. In this context, analytical scientists developed microfluidic techniques such as microchip electrophoresis (MCE). This paper provides an overview of MCE system development and applications in perspectives with the requirements of QC analysis. The objective of the present review is to evaluate if MCE could be, now or in the future, a suitable alternative for pharmaceutical quality control. The quantitative performances of published MCE methods are deeply discussed using precision criterion (RSD) as a common thread.