Research Article
Ankalu Dasa*, Nandhakumar Sath
Abstract
The challenge up-front in formulating an efficient oral dosage form for a proton pump inhibitor like pantoprazole is delivering the acid liable drug unaffected to the intestinal milieu, for which enteric coating possibly will be a most plausible solution. Sureteric is a specially blended optimized aqueous coating combination of polyvinyl acetate phthalate, which exhibits a number of properties desirable for an enteric film formation. The present study aimed at formulation of enteric coated tablets of pantoprazole and to assess the influence of appropriate additives on the performance of the final product. The influence of different diluents, disintegrants and binders upon the precompression characters and physico-chemical properties of the tablets were studied and an optimized formulation with passable quality was selected for enteric coating. The optimized core formulation was then shroud around in a seal coat using 12% HPMC dispersion in order to increase the mechanical integrity and avoid any possible interaction between the drug and the enteric polymer. The seal coating was followed by enteric coating by the application of sureteric at different theoretical weight gains. The enteric coated tablets were evaluated for disintegration time, acid uptake and drug release. Formulation F19 coated up to 10% weight gain, disintegrated rapidly with in 8 min and showed