Design Development and Optimization of Floating Pellets

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to work out a method of compression of floating pellets. It was assumed that this form should reside in the stomach floating for several hours and gradually release the drug in a controlled way. Compression of pellets into tablets, being a modern technological process, is much more perfect than enclosing them in a hard gelatin capsule.Pellets were prepared by wet granulation of powder mixture, spheronization of the granulated mass followed by drying. Two kinds of diluent, Avicel PH102 and lactose, HPMC K100M and sodium hydrocarbonate were the main components of pellet core. The process and formulation parameters for the pellet formulation were optimized by using 23 full factorial design.The best formulation was selected based on the criteria like controlled drug release for 24 hrs., Optimum floating time and Sphericity. The best was was then compressed into a tablet using cealose as a cushioning agent. The drug release profile of the compressed pellets was found to be same as that of non-compressed pellets. Thus it was concluded that pellets were compressed properly without any damage to the core.