LISTA DE ABREVIATURAS 1,5; 3; 5; 8; 12; 24; 48; 72; 96 e 120 horas após a administração da medicação. A determinação da bioequivalência entre os dois medicamentos deu-se através da comparação dos parâmetros farmacocinéticos: concentração plasmática máxima (C max ), tempo para atingir a concentração plasmática máxima (T max ) e área sobre a curva de decaimento plasmático (ASC T ). Os resultados obtidos foram submetidos à análise de variância (ANOVA) e foi adotado o intervalo de confiança de 90% (IC 90%). Os valores médios para C max , T max e ASC T para RSP para os medicamentos referência e teste foram 16,02 ng/mL; 1,5 h e 348,94 ng.h/mL e 12,65 ng/mL; 1,5 h e 286,03 ng.h/mL, respectivamente. Já os valores médios para C max , T max e ASC T para 9OH-RSP para os medicamentos referência e teste foram 21,00 ng/mL; 5,0 h e 821,40 ng.h/mL e 17,85 ng/mL; 5,0 h e 632,92 ng.h/mL. Os valores de IC 90% para C max e ASC T para RSP para os medicamentos referência e teste foram 74 a 82% e 76 a 85%, respectivamente, e os valores de IC 90% para os mesmos parâmetros para 9OH-RSP foram 83 a 87% e 75 a 78%, respectivamente. Os resultados demonstraram diferenças significativas entre os medicamentos testados, o que permite concluir que os mesmos não são bioequivalentes e, portanto, não podem ser intercambiáveis.Descritores: equivalência terapêutica, risperidona, cromatografia líquida de alta pressão, farmacocinética. Brazil has launched programmes of public policies aiming to improve essential medicines access for the population since 1964. It was created in 1999 the National Agency for Sanitary Vigilance, which introduced the generic medicines in the Brazilian market, which already had the reference and the pharmaceutical equivalent ones. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bioequivalence and interchangeability between two antipsychotics (reference and pharmaceutical equivalent) used by the Institute of Psychiatry, Hospital of the Universidade de São Paulo, containing 2 mg of risperidone. It was developed and validated a high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry method for the determination in plasma of risperidone (RSP) and its main metabolite, 9-hydroxy-risperidone (9OH-RSP). To assess bioequivalence between the medicines it was recruited 22 healthy volunteers, which took part in a clinical cross and random studies. The blood collections were performed on heparinizades tubes (5 ml) and runtimes collections were 0 (before medication); 0.25; 0.5; 1; 1.5; 3; 5; 8; 12; 24; 48; 72; 96 and 120 hours after the administration of medication. The determination of bioequivalence between the two drugs was achieved by a comparison of the following pharmacokinetic parameters: plasma concentration (C max ), time to achieve C max (T max ), and area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC T ).Results were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA), adopting a confidence interval CI 90%. The average values for Cmax, Tmax and AUCT for RSP were 16.02 ng/ml, 1.5 h and 348.94 ng.h/ml for reference medicines a...