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A simple, sensitive and specific hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (HILIC–MS) method was developed and validated to determine the plasma concentrations of metformin, saxagliptin and 5-hydroxy saxagliptin simultaneously in clinical studies. Plasma samples were first acidified and then protein precipitated with acetonitrile. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a HILIC Chrom Matrix HP amide column (5 μm, 3.0 × 100 mm I.D.). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and 5 mM ammonium formate buffer containing 0.1% formic acid. Multiple reaction monitoring transitions were performed on triple quadrupole mass spectrometric detection in positive-ion mode with an electrospray ionization source. The calibration curves showed good linearity ( r  ≥ 0.999) over the established concentration range of 1.0–1000 ng/mL for metformin and 0.1–100 ng/mL for saxagliptin and its active metabolite 5-hydroxy saxagliptin. The extraction recovery for all of the analytes was >92% and the matrix effect ranged from 91.0 to 110.0%. After validation, the method was successfully applied to a bioequivalence study with a single-pill combination (SPC) consisting of 5 mg saxagliptin and 500 mg metformin in 10 healthy Chinese subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]