MODIFYING THE RELEASE PROPERTIES OF EUDRAGIT L30D

The influence of various additives, namely, PEG, mannitol, and HPMCP 50 incorporated with Eudragit(R) L30D on drug release from pellets was investigated. Cores of a water soluble drug were prepared by the powder layering technique using the CF Granulator (CF 360) and coating was accomplished utilizing the Glatt GPCG3 machine. Drug release from pellets coated with Eudragit(R) L30D was found to be influenced by the type and the level of the additive incorporated with the copolymer. At pH 1.5, PEG, regardless of the molecular weight, did not have any significant effect on drug release. At pH 5.5, however, PEG significantly decreased drug release from coated pellets, and the decrease was more pronounced as the molecular weight of PEG was increased. Release of the drug from pellets coated with Eudragit(R) L30D containing mannitol was found to be dependent on mannitol concentration at pH 1.5, 3.5 and 4.5 but independent of mannitol concentration at pH 5.5. The release of drug through Eudragit(R) L30D:HPMCP 50 films was found to be dependent on the ratio of the polymers.