Further Validation of a Rapid Screening Semiquantitative Thin-Layer Chromatographic Method for Marketed Antimalarial Medicines for Adoption in Malawi

Table 5

An estimated comparison of the cost drivers for HPLC and SQ-TLC analyses.

Cost factor	HPLC ($)	SQ-TLC ($)
Acquisition	≈100,000.00	Scanner/phone: 50.00
Stationery phase cost	≈490/100 injections = 4.9/sample. 4.9 × 6 = 29.4 per sample for 6 replicates	77/25 plates = 3.08/sample for 6 replicates
Solvent’s cost	High (HPLC grade; highest purity)	Low (any grade)
Degassing	0.08/sample	Nil
Sample cleanup cost	0.78–15.51/sample	Nil
Annual maintenance	≈465–1485	Nil
Standby equipment and service technician	Yes	No
Precolumn	≈10–50	Nil
Validation	Needed frequently	Rarely needed
Wear and tear	High (due to high pressure)	Nil
Speed of analysis	Low	High
Cost per sample analysis	≈0.47–1.17	0.12–0.16
Parallel analysis	No, 1 at a time	Yes
Time per sample	2–60 minutes	5–10 minutes
Analyst skills needed	High to very high	Low to high
Analysis	Machine	Machine + eyes + software