Polymers for Floating Drug Delivery System

Abstract

Prajapati ST, Patel LD, Patel CN

The floating drug delivery systems (FDDS) become an additional advantage for drugs that are absorbed primarily in the upper segments of gastrointestinal (GI) tract, i.e., the stomach, duodenum and jejunum. Some of the unresolved, critical issues related to the rational development of FDDS include (1) the quantitative efficiency of floating delivery systems in the fasted and fed states; (2) the role of buoyancy in enhancing gastro residence time (GRT) of FDDS; and (3) the correlation between prolonged GRT and sustained release/pharmacokinetic characteristics. Floating drug delivery formulations and the polymers used in these systems have become much more sophisticated, with the ability to do more than simply extend the effective release period for a particular drug. While much of work is still in its early stages, to develop newer polymers and optimization of different polymer combination for development of FDDSs. From review of literature related on FDD it is suggested that future research work in the FDDSs should be aimed at discovering means to accurately control the drug input rate into the GI tract for the optimization of the pharmacokinetic and toxicological profiles of medicinal agents by selecting proper polymers.