Floating In Situ Gelling Drug Delivery System of Verapamil Hydrochloride

  Gastro retentive drug delivery system has been widely used to prolong retention of dosage forms in stomach. Amongst the various approaches, the Raft formulation offers sustained drug release as well as prolonged gastric retention, along with the added advantage of liquid oral dosage form. The present study was an attempt to formulate and evaluate Raft forming floating drug delivery system for Verapamil Hydrochloride which undergoes pH dependent sol-gel transition at gastric pH; thereby prolonging the retention of the system in stomach. Gellan gum (Gelrite®) was employed as gelling agent whose gelation is triggered by source of Ca2+ ions in the form of Calcium Carbonate. The evaluation was carried out for In Vitro parameters and the results substantiated that the optimized formulation revealed excellent floating characteristics and gastric retention.