Overview on Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) based biowaiver requirements in African countries

Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS)-based biowaiver are meant to reduce the need for establishing in vivo bioequivalence in situations where in vitro data may be considered to provide a reasonable estimate of the relative in vivo performance of two products.

The BCS is a scientific approach designed to predict medicinal absorption based on the aqueous solubility and intestinal absorptive characteristics of the Pharmaceutical product. To ensure interchangeability, the multisource product must be therapeutically equivalent to the comparator product. Types of in vivo equivalence studies include comparative pharmacokinetic studies, comparative pharmacodynamic studies and comparative clinical studies.

This article briefly explains the BCS based biowaiver requirements in six major African countries i.e. Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana and Tanzania which facilitates regulatory medicine approval process when the dossier (application) is approved based on evidence of equivalence other than In vivo studies.