FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF VERAPAMIL HYDROCHLORIDE FLOATING BEADS

The oral delivery of drugs with a narrow absorption window in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is often limited by poor bioavailability with conventional dosage forms due to incomplete drug release and short residence time at the site of absorption. There have been many efforts to improve oral drug bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance. A variety of controlled-release oral delivery systems have been developed to meet these needs. Gastroretentive drug delivery systems (GRDDS) such as bioadhesive or mucoadhesive, high-density, expandable and floating, superporous hydrogels and magnetic systems have the potential to achieve retention of the dosage form in the upper gastrointestinal tract (GIT) that can be sufficient to ensure complete solubilization of the drugs in the stomach fluids, followed by subsequent absorption in the stomach or proximal small intestine. In Present work develop a gastroretentive sustained release dosage form of a water-soluble drug, Verapamil hydrochloride, from a completely aqueous environment avoiding the use of any organic solvent, thus releasing the drug for a prolonged duration of time. The effects of factors like concentration of oil, drug: polymer ratio and alginate: pectin ratio on drug entrapment efficiency, floating lag time and morphology and drug release was studied.

Keywords:Verapamil hydrochloride, Controlled release, Floating beads, Evaluation