Benfotiamine

Vitaminoral · inferred

Synthetic S-acyl thiamine derivative used as a vitamin B1 precursor. Intestinal dephosphorylation produces a more membrane-permeable S-benzoylthiamine intermediate, which is absorbed and converted to thiamine and its phosphorylated cofactor forms. Human trials have studied diabetic neuropathy and early Alzheimer disease, but efficacy is not established: a 2026 year-long neuropathy trial found no significant benefit across its primary morphometric, neurophysiological, or clinical outcomes.

Projected serum levels — 300 mg, once daily

Benfotiamine (precursor)Thiamine (Vitamin B1)
Benfotiamine modeled serum levels, 300 mg once daily over 15 days Population-based pharmacokinetic estimate. Steady state reached after approximately 1 days. 0 6.3 12.5 18.8 25 Day 0 Day 4 Day 8 Day 11 Day 15 Time on a regular schedule ≈ steady state · day 1

Maintenance schedule: 300 mg once daily (oral).

Modeled steady state after ~1 days: peak ≈ 20.7 mg, trough ≈ 0.000 mg body load. Population-based estimate over 15 days for a 300 mg dose at a 70 kg reference body mass — the interactive app scales curves to your doses, timing, and body mass.

Key facts

Category
Vitamin
Route modeled
Oral
Model confidence
inferred
Half-life
29 h
Common dose
300 mg
Suggested maximum
600 mg/day
Reference dose range
150–600 mg (single dose)
Suggested cadence
once daily
Validated against
300 mg oral — Cmax 0.62 mg/L at 1.5 h

Research behind this entry

  1. Pharmacokinetic study of benfotiamine and the bioavailability assessment compared to thiamine hydrochloride Xie F et al. · Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2014 DOI

    Human single- and multiple-dose PK study measuring thiamine, TMP, and TDP after oral benfotiamine. Relative to oral thiamine hydrochloride, plasma thiamine exposure was about 11.5-fold higher and erythrocyte TDP…

  2. Safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of single and multiple ascending doses of benfotiamine in healthy subjects Sheng L et al. · Drug Design, Development and Therapy, 2021 DOI

    Two randomized phase I studies evaluated single doses from 150-1200 mg and repeated doses from 150-600 mg in healthy adults. Generated thiamine peaked at 1-2 hours, while TMP and TDP peaked later. Exposure was analyte-…

  3. Benfotiamine and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease Gibson GE et al. · Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2020 DOI

    In a 12-month phase IIa placebo-controlled trial, 34 participants received benfotiamine and 36 received placebo. The primary ADAS-Cog comparison did not reach statistical significance (p=0.125). CDR worsening and an…

  4. Effects of benfotiamine treatment over 12 months in type 2 diabetes patients with symptomatic polyneuropathy Ziegler D et al. · BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care, 2026 DOI

    This randomized double-blind phase II trial compared benfotiamine 300 mg twice daily with placebo for 12 months. Treatment was well tolerated but produced no significant benefit across the studied morphometric,…

4 published studies referenced in the app, each with a plain-language summary.