Bioequivalence
Bioequivalence refers to the speed and absorption by the body of the pharmaceutical, the active principle or its therapeutic fraction. Two pharmaceutical products are bioequivalent if they are pharmaceutically equivalent and if the rate and extent of availability after administration in the same molar dose is essentially the same. Different methods may be used to demonstrate this:
• comparative bioavailability studies in humans consisting of titration of the active ingredient or one or several of its metabolites in an accessible biological liquid such as plasma, blood or urine;
• comparative pharmacodynamic studies in humans;
• comparative clinical trials; and
• in vitro dissolution tests.