Legal requirements on equivalence studies for generics in Brazil

Generics/Research | Posted 02/07/2021 post-comment0 Post your comment

The creation of the legal system for generic medicines began with the introduction of Law Number 9787 in February 1999 (Brazil 1999). According to the National Health Surveillance Agency (Agencia Nacional de Vigilancia Sanitaria, ANVISA), the approval of medicines aims to improve the Brazilian population's access to better, safe and quality medicines at lower prices.

01 AA007239

In order to market generic medicines in Brazil, ANVISA requires pharmaceutical equivalence studies and relative bioavailability/bioequivalence studies.

Pharmaceutical equivalence studies are conducted in laboratories (physicochemical and/or microbiology) in order to certify that two medicines contain identical amounts of the same active ingredient, have the same dosage and route of administration. For this, the two drugs must comply with the standards of the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia or other official compendia authorized by ANVISA. In these studies, the following parameters are generally evaluated: physical appearance, route of administration, viscosity, density, weight or volume and, where applicable, comparative dissolution profile.

To determine bioequivalence, the following parameters are assessed:

  1. Maximum drug concentration (Cmax)
  2. Time to reach Cmax
  3. Area under the plasma concentration curve of a drug vs time (AUC)

Two drugs are considered bioequivalent if the average bioavailability (ASCO-t test/ASCO-t reference and Cmax test/Cmax reference) of the test formulation is between 80% and 125% of the reference formulation, considering a 90% confidence interval, according to the technical regulation for generic drugs approved by ANVISA on 23 May 2003 [1].
 
Editor’s comment
Readers interested to learn more about regulatory requirements for generics are invited to visit www.gabi-journal.net to view the following manuscript published in GaBI Journal:

Regulatory requirements for the acceptance of foreign comparator products in the participants of the International Generic Drug Regulators Programme

GaBI Journal is indexed in Embase, Scopus, Emerging Sources Citation Index and more.

Readers interested in contributing a research or perspective paper to GaBI Journal – an independent, peer reviewed academic journal – please submit your manuscript here.

GaBI Journal Citation Impact
1.9 – CiteScore 2020 (calculated on 5 May 2021)
1.6 – CiteScoreTracker 2021 (Last updated on 4 June 2021)

Submit a manuscript to GaBI Journal

Related articles
The generics market in Brazil

Laws on packaging, substitution and prescription of generics in Brazil

Backlog of drug patents in Brazil

FDA includes generics of complex drugs in regulatory focus

LATIN AMERICAN FORUM

The brand-new section the ‘Latin American Forum’ on GaBI has been launched. The objective of this new section is to provide you with all the latest news and updates on developments of generic and biosimilar medicines in Latin America in Spanish. 

View this week’s headline article: La Epoetina biosimilar en Estados Unidos – obstáculos y recomendaciones

Browse the news in the Latin American Forum!

Register to receive the GaBI Latin American Forum newsletter. Inform colleagues and friends of this new initiative.

LATIN AMERICAN FORUM

Se ha lanzado la nueva sección del ‘Foro Latinoamericano’ sobre GaBI. El objetivo de esta nueva sección es brindarle las últimas noticias y actualizaciones sobre desarrollos de medicamentos genéricos y biosimilares en América Latina en español.

Vea el artículo principal de esta semana: La Epoetina biosimilar en Estados Unidos – obstáculos y recomendaciones

Explore las noticias en el Foro Latinoamericano!

Regístrese para recibir el boletín informativo GaBI Latin American Forum. Informe a colegas y amigos sobre esta nueva iniciativa. 

  
Reference
1. Nardi EP, Silva ARA. A closer look at generic drugs: the brazilian case. In: Lowell T. Duncan (Ed). Advances in Health and Disease. Volume 21. Nova Science Publishers; 2020. Chapter 2. ISBN: 978-1-53617-783-1.

Permission granted to reproduce for personal and non-commercial use only. All other reproduction, copy or reprinting of all or part of any ‘Content’ found on this website is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of the publisher. Contact the publisher to obtain permission before redistributing.

Copyright – Unless otherwise stated all contents of this website are © 2021 Pro Pharma Communications International. All Rights Reserved.

comment icon Comments (0)
Post your comment
Most viewed articles
About GaBI
Home/About GaBI Posted 06/08/2009
EU guidelines for biosimilars
EMA logo 1 V13C15
Home/Guidelines Posted 08/10/2010