FORMULATION DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF FAMCICLOVIR ORALLY DISINTEGRATING TABLET

Orally disintegrating systems have an edge amongst the oral drug delivery systems due to the highest component of compliance they enjoy in patients especially the geriatrics and pediatrics. In addition, patients suffering from dysphagia, motion sickness, repeated emesis and mental disorders prefer these medications because they cannot swallow large quantity of water. Further, drugs exhibiting satisfactory absorption from the oral mucosa or intended for immediate pharmacological action can be advantageously formulated in these dosage forms. However, the requirements of formulating these dosage forms with mechanical strength sufficient to withstand the rigors of handling and capable of disintegrating within a few seconds on contact with saliva are inextricable. Therefore, research in developing orally disintegrating systems has been aimed at investigating different excipients as well as techniques to meet these challenges. Famciclovir is an antiviral drug used for the treatment of herpes simplex virus (HSV), mainly HSV-1 and HSV-2 and varicella zoster virus. It is a BCS class III drug. Hence an orally disintegrating tablet formulation of Famciclovir was prepared by wet granulation techniques after incorporating superdisintegrants sodium starch glycolate. Six formulations were prepared. The formulation (F3) showed excellent in vitro dispersion time and drug release as compared to other formulation. After study of formulations F3 showed short dispersion time with maximum drug release in 10 min. It is concluded that fast disintegrating famciclovir tablets could be prepared by wet granulation using superdisintegrants. Keywords: Famciclovir, ODT, Sodium starch glycolate (Primogel), Microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel pH102)