At present, no one can imagine drug development, marketing and post-marketing without
rigorous quality control at each stage. Only modern, selective, accurate and precise analytical methods
for determination of active compounds, their degradation products and stability studies are able to assure
the appropriate amount and purity of drugs administered every day to millions of patients all over
the world. For routine control of drugs simple, economic, rapid and reliable methods are desirable. The
major focus of current scrutiny is placed on high-performance thin layer chromatography and derivative
spectrophotometry methods, which fulfill routine drug estimation’s expectations [1-4]. The present
paper reveals state-of-the-art and possible applications of those methods in pharmaceutical analysis
between 2010 and 2018. The review shows advantages of high-performance thin layer chromatography
and derivative spectrophotometry, including accuracy and precision comparable to more expensive and
time-consuming methods as well as additional fields of possible applications, which contribute to resolving
many analytical problems in everyday laboratory practice.