COMPARATIVE, RANDOMISED, SINGLE-DOSE, CROSSOVER BIOAVAILABILITY STUDY OF TWO FORMULATIONS OF AZITHROMYCIN 500 mg FILM-COATED TABLETS IN HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS UNDER FASTING CONDITIONS

  • Gordana Damjanovska Medical doctor, PhD, Specialist for preclinical and clinical pharmacology and toxicology, Skopje, North Macedonia
  • Emilija Atanasovska Institute for preclinical and clinical pharmacology and toxicology, Medical faculty, “Ss.Cyril and Metodius University”in Skopje, North Macedonia
  • Nikola Labacevski Institute for preclinical and clinical pharmacology and toxicology, Medical faculty, “Ss.Cyril and Metodius University”in Skopje, North Macedonia

Abstract

Abstract


Bioequivalence studies are clinical studies for determining bioavailability of investigated medicinal products and are conducted in accordance with EU Directive 2001/20/ EMA - Note for Guidance on the Investigation of Bioavailability and Bioequivalence (CPMP/EWP/QWP/1401/98 Rev. 1/Corr**),  Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the rate and extent of absorption of single dose of 500mg AZITHROMYCIN (as test or reference preparation) in two periods of treatment with 28 days wash out between them, administered to healthy volunteers in a single-dose, randomized, 2 way cross-over study under fasting conditions.


Material and methods: Clinical study included forty-four male healthy volunteers with fulfilled inclusion criteria and signed Informed consent in accordance with the Clinical Study Protocol approved by Ethical Committee for clinical and other investigations related to medicines and medical devices at the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of Republic of North Macedonia. Validated HPLC-MS/MS method for AZITHROMYCIN form plasma determination was used, and with pharmacokinetic analysis, pharmacokinetics variables were determined: Primary Variables:Cmax; AUC0-72h Secondary Variables:Tmax; AUC0-.Statistycal analysis:An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate treatment, sequence and period effects. Safety:Descriptive statistics were calculated for demographic data and for adverse events.


Results:Pharmacokinetic:A total of 44 subjects had pharmacokinetic samples, 43 of them were included in the pharmacokinetic statistical analysis Safety:Both treatments (A and B) appear to be safe and well tolerated after single oral dose. No severe adverse events, serious adverse events or deaths


Conclusion:Both products are bioequivalent based on the results of main analysis (equivalence of AUC0-72h and Cmax using ln-transformed data).

References

References:
1.Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products. (1996). ICH Topic E3: Structure and content of clinical study reports (CPMP/ICH/137/95). European Medicines Agency.
2.Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products. (2001). Directive 2001/20/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 April 2001 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the implementation of good clinical practice in the conduct of clinical trials on medicinal products for human use. Official Journal of the European Communities.
3.European Medicines Agency. (2010). Guideline on the investigation of bioequivalence (EMA/CPMP/EWP/QWP/1401/98 Rev. 1/Corr**). https://www.ema.europa.eu
4.European Medicines Agency. (2011). Guideline on bioanalytical method validation (EMEA/CHMP/EWP/192217/2009 Rev.1 Corr.2). https://www.ema.europa.eu
5.European Medicines Agency. (2015). Guideline on the pharmacokinetic and clinical evaluation of modified release dosage forms (EMA/CHMP/EWP/280/96). https://www.ema.europa.eu
6.European Medicines Agency. (2017). ICH guideline for good clinical practice E6 (R2) (EMA/CHMP/ICH/135/95). https://www.ema.europa.eu
7.European Commission. (2010). EudraLex: The rules governing medicinal products in the European Union, Volume 4: EU guidelines to good manufacturing practice—Annex 13: Investigational medicinal products (ENTR/F/2/AM/an D(2010) 3374).
8.Medicines Evaluation Board. (n.d.). Public assessment report: Azithromycine Orifarm 250 mg and 500 mg film-coated tablets (EU procedure No. NL/H/1299/001-002/DC). https://www.geneesmiddeleninformatiebank.nl
9.Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. (n.d.-a). Public assessment report: Azithromycin 250 mg and 500 mg film-coated tablets (Strandhaven Ltd t/a Somex Pharma).
10.Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. (n.d.-b). Public assessment report: Azithromycin 250 mg and 500 mg film-coated tablets (Wockhardt UK Limited).
11.Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (1997). OECD principles on good laboratory practice. OECD Publishing.
12.Pfizer Inc. (2019). Zithromax (azithromycin): Full prescribing information. https://labeling.pfizer.com/showlabeling.aspx?id=511
13.RxList. (2020). Zithromax (azithromycin) drug information. https://www.rxlist.com/zithromax-drug.htm
14.World Medical Association. (2013). Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/
15.Zhang, P. (2003). A simple formula for sample size calculation in equivalence studies. Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics, 13(3), 529–538. https://doi.org/10.1081/BIP-120022772
Published
2026-05-22
How to Cite
DAMJANOVSKA, Gordana; ATANASOVSKA, Emilija; LABACEVSKI, Nikola. COMPARATIVE, RANDOMISED, SINGLE-DOSE, CROSSOVER BIOAVAILABILITY STUDY OF TWO FORMULATIONS OF AZITHROMYCIN 500 mg FILM-COATED TABLETS IN HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS UNDER FASTING CONDITIONS. Journal of Morphological Sciences, [S.l.], v. 9, n. 2, p. 109-117, may 2026. ISSN 2545-4706. Available at: <https://www.jms.mk/jms/article/view/vol9no2-14>. Date accessed: 23 may 2026.
Section
Articles