Literature data relevant to the biopharmaceutical properties of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) nifedipine are reviewed to evaluate whether a waiver of in vivo bioequivalence (BE) testing of immediate-release (IR) dosage forms formulated as tablets and soft gelatin capsules is warranted. Nifedipine's solubility and permeability, its therapeutic use and index, pharmacokinetics, food drug interactions, and any reported BE/bioavailability problems were all taken into consideration. Solubility and BA data indicate conclusively that nifedipine is a class II substance of biopharmaceutics classification system (BCS) and that the formulation of drug product plays a key role on the dissolution characteristics of the API. Therefore, a BCS biowaiver-based approval of nifedipine containing IR oral dosage forms cannot be recommended for reformulated/new multisource drug products or for major scale-up and postapproval changes to the existing drug products.
Keywords: absorption; bioavailability; bioequivalence; dissolution; nifedipine; permeability; soft gelatin capsules; solubility; tablets.
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.