Effect of different polymers on release of ranolazine from extended release tablets

Abstract

A n extended release tablet provides prolonged release of drug, maintains the desired concentration of drug in plasma and thereby reduce dosing frequency, improve patient compliance and reduce the dose-related side-effects. Ranolazine is indicated for the chronic treatment of angina in patients who have not achieved an adequate response with other anti-anginal agent. The present investigation was undertaken to design the extended release tablets of ranolazine employing different polymers as matrix forming agents using direct compression technique. Formulated tablets were evaluated for weight variation, hardness, friability, drug content, swelling index and in vitro release studies. The drug release followed first order kinetics and controlled by both erosion and diffusion mechanism. It is concluded that the desired drug release pattern can be obtained from the formulation containing 9.8% w/w eudragit and 39.2% w/w metallose offered relatively much slow release of ranolazine compared with other formulations. The selected formulation showed a similarity factor 76 when comparing in vitro dissolution data of the commercial formulation ranozex 500.