GASTRO-RETENTIVE FLOATING DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS

Abstract

In the recent years, particularly in the last two decades, a great deal of technological and scientific research has been devoted to the development of rate-controlled oral drug delivery systems to overcome physiological problems, such as short gastric residence times (GRT) and unpredictable gastric emptying times (GET), in order to be able to formulate gastro-retentive dosage forms, which will allow the delivery of restricted 'absorption window' drugs which are absorbed in a particular portion of the GI tract. Several approaches are currently being used to prolong the GRT, including floating drug delivery systems (FDDS), also known as hydrodynamically balanced systems (HBS), swelling and expanding systems, high-density systems, and other delayed gastric emptying devices. In this review, the current and recent developments of FDDS, including patented delivery systems and marketed products, are discussed.