Several studies have demonstrated circadian rhythmicity for all body functions. Incidence of several cardiovascular events, like myocardial infarction, stroke and sudden cardiac death, also exhibit circadian rhythm (1, 2). These events are often observed early in the morning as the blood pressure (BP) rises significantly just before waking hours and declines to its lowest value around midnight (3). Lower concentrations of anti-hypertensive drugs during sleep are recommended because excessive reduction in blood pressure during sleep might predispose elderly hypertensive patients to ischaemic cerebrovascular disease (4). Conventional drug delivery systems seem inappropriate to address such medical needs by way of administering drugs, since there is a sharp rise in In view of the circadian rhythm of cardiovascular diseases, a delayed-onset extended-release (DOER) formulation of metoprolol tartrate (MT) was prepared. This was achieved through dissolution-guided optimization of the proportion of Methocel K4M and Methocel K15M. Core erosion ratio was greater than 50 %, thereby showing steady release of the drug after the lag time until complete dissolution. Optimized formulation produced a lag phase of 6 h followed by complete release of 98.7 ± 2.1 % in 24 h. Water uptake study revealed that Methocel K15M has lower water uptake (30 ± 1 %) than Methocel K4M (40 ± 2 %) after 24 h. Axial swelling of polymers was higher than swelling in the radial direction. Drug--polymer interaction study precludes any interaction between drug and polymer. Such a drug delivery system may provide a viable alternative for effective management of hypertension and other related disorders. This work also proposes an approach to attain DOER for a hydrophilic drug by using a hydrophilic swellable polymer in press coat.