Abstract

Floating tablets of carbamazepine were developed using melt granulation technique. Bees wax was used as a hydrophobic meltable material. Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, sodium bicarbonate and ethyl cellulose were used as matrixing agent, gas-generating agent and floating enhancer, respectively. The tablets were evaluated for in vitro buoyancy and dissolution studies. A simplex lattice design was applied to investigate the combined effect of 3 formulation variables i.e. amount of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( X 1 ), ethyl cellulose ( X 2 ) and sodium bicarbonate ( X 3 ). The floating lag time (F lag ), time required for 50% (t 50 ) and 80% drug dissolution (t 80 ) were taken as responses. Results of multiple regression analysis indicated that, low level of X 1 and X 2 , and high level of X 3 should be used to manufacture the tablet formulation with desired in vitro floating time and dissolution. Formulations developed using simplex lattice design were fitted to various kinetic models for drug release. Formulation S3 was selected as a promising formulation and was found stable at 40 o and 75% relative humidity for 3 months. Present study demonstrates the use of simplex lattice design in the development of floating tablets with minimum experimentation.