Formulation and Evaluation of Floating Drug Delivery System of Cefpodoxime Proxetil

The objective of the present study was to develop floating drug delivery system of Cefpodoxime proxetil to increase its residence time in stomach as high solubility, chemical and enzymatic stability and absorption profile was observed in acidic pH value. The floating tablets of Cefpodoxime proxetil were prepared by direct compression method using sodium bicarbonate as floating agent and HPMC as rate retarding polymer. A 3² full factorial design was constructed to study the effect of the amount of HPMC and sodium bicarbonate on the drug release profile from the formulations. The formulations were evaluated for floating lag time, floating duration time and in vitro drug release studies. The optimized formulation showed sufficiently sustained drug release and remained buoyant on the surface of medium for more than 10 hours. It was observed that the increase of floating agent concentration displayed a common phenomenon that the drug release rate and extent were increased in all cases. As the concentration of HPMC increases in the formulation the release rate was found to be decreased. Accelerated stability studies were performed as per ICH guidelines at temperature of 40 ± 2°C and humidity 75 ± 5%RH for a period of 3 months. The results indicated that these formulations remained stable. It can be concluded that floating drug delivery system of Cefpodoxime proxetil can be successfully formulated as an approach to increase gastric residence time and thereby improve its bioavailability.