gastroretentive floating gel beads of loratadine

A major constraint in oral controlled drug delivery is that not all drug candidates are absorbed uniformly throughout the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Some drugs are ab-sorbed only in a particular portion of GIT or are absorbed to a different extent in various segments of GIT. An absorption window exists because of physiological, physicochemical or biochemical factors. Recent scientific and patent literature reveals increased interest in novel dosage forms that can be retained in the stomach for a prolonged and predict-able period of time. One of the most feasible approaches is to control the gastric residen-ce time using gastroretentive dosage forms (GRDDS) that can provide newer therapeutic options. GRDDS can improve controlled delivery of drugs by continuously releasing the drug for a prolonged period of time before it reaches its absorption site, thus ensuring its optimal bioavailability (1). The purpose of designing a floating multiple unit dosage form is to develop a reli-able formulation of loratadine that has all the advantages of a floating single unit dosag