Bioequivalence of four preparations of enrofloxacin in poultry

In various parts of the world, many 10% enrofloxacin commercial preparations for water medication of chicken are being employed. To avoid the development of bacterial resistance to this agent, the original trademark and similar preparations must be bioequivalent. To assess whether or not bioequivalence exists among the pioneer vs. three commercial preparations of enrofloxacin, a controlled pharmacokinetic study was conducted. The following variables were compared: maximal plasma concentration (Cpeak), time to Cpeak, bioavailability (expressed as the area under the concentration vs. time curve), elimination half-life, and the shapes of the respective time-serum concentrations of enrofloxacin profiles. Results indicate that all three similar commercial preparations had lower Cpeak values than the reference formulation, being 39.62 to 67.77% of the corresponding Cpeak reference. Additionally, bioavailability of enrofloxacin in the pioneer product was statistically higher (P < 0.05). Based upon these results, we conclude that although all preparations were formulated as water-soluble products, bioequivalence studies are mandatory for the analogue formulations to ensure product comparability. Lack of product bioequivalence could facilitate the development of bacterial resistance and limit the useful life span of the product.