Bioequivalence of immediate-release theophylline capsules

A three-way crossover study in 18 healthy male volunteers was conducted to evaluate the bioequivalence of three different 200 mg anhydrous theophylline immediate-release (IR) capsules. The products had not been rated as therapeutically equivalent by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) owing to a lack of bioequivalence data. Serum samples were obtained from 0 to 34 h after dosing. Mean time of maximum serum concentration (T(max)) ranged from 1.3 to 1.4 h. Mean values for the maximum serum concentration (C(max)) and the area under the serum concentration-time curves (AUC) differed by <5% for the three products. The confidence limits for Ln-transformed C(max) and AUC ranged from >/=89 to