• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.145-149
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• 1999

Bioequivalence of two cefixime capsules, test drug ($Cepirin^R$ capsule: Cheiljedang Corp.) and reference drug ($Suprax^R$ capsule: Dong A Pharm. Com.), was evaluated according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). Sixteen healthy volunteers were divided randomly into two groups and administered the drug orally at the dose of 400 mg as cefixime in a $2{\times}2$ crossover study. There was a 1-week washout period between the administrations. Blood samples were taken at predetermined time intervals for 12 hour and the plasma concentration of cefixime was determined with a HPLC method. $AUC_{0-12hr}$ (area under the plasma concentration-time curve form time zero to 12 hour), $C_{max}$ (maximum plasma drug concentration) and $T_{max}$ (time to reach $C_{max}$) were estimated from the plasma drug concentrationtime data. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no difference in $AUC_{0-12hr}$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$ between the formulations. The apparent differences of these parameters between the formulations were less than 20% (i.e., 8.62, 11.10 and 0.00% for $AUC_{0-12hr}$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$,respectively). The powers $(1-{\beta})$ for $AUC_{0-12hr}$ $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$ were over 0.9. Minimal detectable difference $({\Delta})$ at ${\alpha}=0.05$, $1-{\beta}=0.8$ were less than 20% (i.e., 12.84, 11.05 and 17.99% for $AUC_{0-12hr}$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$, respectively). The 90% confidence intervals $({\delta})$ for these parameters were also within ${\pm}20%$ (i.e., $-0.53{\le}{\delta}{\le}17.76$, $3.23{\le}{\delta}{\le}18.97$ and $-12.81{\le}{\delta}{\le}12.81$ for $AUC_{0-12hr}$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$, respectively). These results satisfied the criteria of KFDA guideline for bioequivalence, indicating the two formulations of cefixime were bioequivlent.