Pharmacokinetics of pipamperone from three different tablet formulations

Twenty-four (24) Caucasian male subjects completed a single-blind, randomised, three-treatment, three-period, cross-over study. In each treatment phase, subjects received a single dose of 144 mg pipamperone dihydrochloride (CAS 2448-68-2) (equivalent to 120 mg pipamperone; CAS 1893-33-0) as either the reference product (3 x 40 mg tablets), test product A (3 x 40 mg tablets) or test product B (1 x 120 mg tablet). Each consecutive dosing was separated by a washout period of 14 days. Following each dosing, venous blood samples were collected over a period of 120 h for the determination of plasma pipamperone concentrations by high-performance liquid chromatography. The most common drug related adverse events, ranging from mild to moderate in intensity, were bloodshot eyes, nasal congestion, dry mouth, hypotension and dizziness. The geometric mean Cmax of pipamperone for both the reference product and test product A was 266 ng/ml and for test product B 263 ng/ml. The geometric mean AUC0-infinity was 3107 ng.h/ml for the reference product, 3229 ng.h/ml for test product A and 3108 ng.h/ml for test product B. The two test products were shown to be bioequivalent to the reference product with respect to all pharmacokinetic variables investigated.