• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.215-222
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• 2004

The purpose of the present study was designed to evaluate the bioequivalence of two oxiracetam tablets, Neuromed tablet (Korea Drug Co., reference drug) and Neuracetam tablet (Sam Jin Pharmaceutical Co., test drug), according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). Release of oxiracetam from the tablet in vitro was tested using KP VIII Apparatus II method with various dissolution media (pH 1.2, 4.0, 6.8 buffer solution and water). Twenty-four healthy volunteers, $23.7\;{\pm}\;2.4$ year in age and $68.9\;{\pm}\;6.2$ kg in body weight, were divided into two groups and a randomized $2{\times}2$ cross-over study was performed. After oral administration of a tablet containing 800 mg of oxiracetam, blood samples were taken at predetermined time intervals and concentrations of oxiracetam in plasma were determined using HPLC-MS-MS. The dissolution profiles of two formulations were very similar at all dissolution media. In addition, pharmacokinetic parameters such as $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$ were calculated and ANOVA test was utilized for the statistical analysis of the parameters using logarithmically transformed $AUC_t$ and $C_{max}$ untransformed $T_{max}$. The results showed that the differences between two formulations based on the reference drug were 0.42%, 0.45% and -12.58% for $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$, respectively. There were no sequence effects between two formulations in these parameters. The 90% confidence intervals for the log transformed data were within the acceptance range of log 0.8 to log 1.25 (e.g., $log0.94{\sim}log1.06$ and $log0.90{\sim}log1.07$ for $AUC_t$, and $C_{max}$, respectively), indicating that Neuracetam tablet is bioequivalent to Neuromed tablet. The major pharmacokinetic parameters, $AUC_t$, and $C_{max}$ met the criteria set by KFDA for bioequivalence indicating that Neuracetam tablet is bioequivalent to Neuromed tablet.