Development and Evaluation of Buccal Film of Carvedilol Phosphate

The present study was undertaken to develop and evaluate buccal films of Carvedilol phosphate with an aim of improving patient compliance. Ease of administration with fast release of the drug was anticipated as the buccal films were prepared by using novel film forming agent obtained from natural source. Carvedilol phosphate buccal films were prepared by natural film former obtained from mucilage of Plantago ovata husk by solvent casting method. The films were evaluated for thickness uniformity, weight variation, surface pH, folding endurance, drug content uniformity, swelling index, disintegration time, tensile strength, in vitro drug dissolution study and ex-vivo drug permeation studies. Ex vivo permeation studies through goat buccal mucosa revealed optimum drug permeation within the span of 10 minutes. The factorial design was adopted to optimize the formulation. The optimized formulation of Carvedilol phosphate exhibited drug release upto 98.42 % at the end of 10 min. It was concluded that buccal film of Carvedilol phosphate can be formulated using Plantago ovata husk gel as a hydrophilic film forming material. The study suggested that Carvedilol phosphate can be conveniently administered orally in the form of buccal film to improve release, patient compliance and hence may show improved bioavailability