DOI: 10.21276/sajp

Pages: 304-310

Valacyclovir hydrochloride (VCH), is L-valyl ester prodrug of acyclovir. VCH degrades in intestinal fluid. The objective of investigation was to develop floating mini-tablets of VCH to localize the drug at upper part of GIT, for improved absorption. The tablets were prepared by wet granulation method, using HPMC K4M, HPMC K15M and HPMCK100M as release retarded polymers and sodium bicarbonate as gas forming agent. The each dose of tablet was compressed with 50 mg of 14 mini-tablets, equivalent to 320 mg of VCH. The tablets were evaluated for post compression parameters includes hardness, weight variation, content uniformity, friability, in vitro buoyancy and in vitro dissolution studies were performed. DSC studies were used to reveal the drug-excipient interaction. The data obtained from the in vitro release study was fit to various kinetic models to explain the release profile of the drug. Formulation F6 containing HPMC K4M and HPMC K100M showed minimal floating lag time and remained float throughout dissolution period, while prolong the drug release of 99.51% up to 8 h, following zero order kinetics.