Formulation Development of Morphine Sulfate Sustained-Release Tablets and Its Bioequivalence Study in Healthy Thai Volunteers

The objectives of this study were to develop morphine sulfate sustained-release tablet formulations and to evaluate the bioequivalence compared with a commercial brand. The physicochemical properties of the formulated and commercial tablets were determined and compared. The bioequivalence investigation was carried out in 15 healthy male volunteers who received a single dose in a randomized two-way crossover design. After dosing, serial blood samples were collected for a period of 24 h. Morphine concentration was assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detector. The log-transformed C _max and AUC_s were statistically compared by analysis of variance, and the 90% confidence intervals (CIs) of the ratio of the log-transformed C _max and AUC_s between the most promising developed formulation and the commercial product were determined. It was found that the dissolution rate profile of a developed formulation was similar to the commercial brand. Their similarity and difference factors were well within limits. In the bioequivalence study, the AUC_last and AUC_inf between the test and the reference products were not statistically different (p = 0.227 and p = 0.468, respectively), with the 90% CIs of 83.4–102.6% and 87.7–139.4%, respectively. However, the C _max of the two formulations was significantly different (p = 0.019). The 90% CI of the developed formulation was 72.0–93.0% compared to the commercial product. In vitro dissolution of locally prepared morphine sulfate sustained-release tablets was comparable to commercial brand. However, the results justified the conclusion of lack of bioequivalence of the developed product to the commercial one.