ABSTRACTCYP2C8 plays an important role in the metabolism of various drugs, such as paclitaxel, repaglinide and ibuprofen. Polymorphisms in the CYP2C8 gene were shown to influence interindividual differences in the pharmacokinetics of paclitaxel, repaglinide and ibuprofen enantiomers. In this study, three CYP2C8 allelic variants (CYP2C8.2, CYP2C8.3 and CYP2C8.4) and wild‐type CYP2C8 (CYP2C8.1) were co‐expressed for the first time with human cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (POR) and cytochrome b5 by using a baculovirus‐assisted insect cell expression system. Further, the effects of genotype–phenotype correlations of CYP2C8 alleles on the metabolism of paclitaxel, repaglinide and ibuprofen enantiomers were evaluated. The CLint values of CYP2C8.2, CYP2C8.3 and CYP2C8.4 for paclitaxel were 47.7%, 64.3% and 30.2% of that of CYP2C8.1 (p < 0.01). The CLint values of CYP2C8.2 and CYP2C8.4 for repaglinide were 77.9% and 80.2% of that of CYP2C8.1 (p < 0.05), respectively, while the CLint value of CYP2C8.3 was 1.31‐fold higher than that of CYP2C8.1 (p < 0.05). The relative CLint values of CYP2C8.2, CYP2C8.3 and CYP2C8.4 were 110.5%, 72.3% and 49.7% of that of CYP2C8.1 and were 124.6%, 83.4% and 47.4% of that of CYP2C8.1 for R‐ibuprofen and S‐ibuprofen, respectively. Comparing hydroxylation by CYP2C8.1 and CYP2C8.3 resulted in higher and lower intrinsic clearance of repaglinide and ibuprofen enantiomers, respectively. These in vitro findings were consistent with the pharmacokinetics in volunteers who were heterozygous or homozygous carriers of CYP2C8*3. The results of this study provide useful information for predicting CYP2C8 phenotypes and may contribute to individualized drug therapy in the future. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.