Formulation and Evaluation of Buccal Adhesive Drug Delivery System of Lercanidipine

The purpose of this research was to study buccal adhesive drug delivery system (BADDS) of Lercanidipine using the bioadhesive polymers sodium alginate (Na-alginate) and HPMC K4M along with ethyl cellulose as an impermeable backing layer. BADDS was evaluated by weight uniformity, thickness, drug content, mucoadhesive strength, swelling, in vitro drug release and in vitro drug permeation studies. Mucoadhesive strength (MS) was measured by using a modified apparatus. BADDSs containing Sodium alginate and HPMC K4M at the ratio of 1:2 showed higher MS (34.15 g) with chicken mucosa when compared with 1:1 (28.69 g), 2:1 (24.69 g), ratios, respectively. The swelling index was proportional to Na-alginate content and inversely proportional to HPMC K4M content. The formulation F4 was optimized based on good bioadhesive strength (28.69 g) and sustained in vitro drug permeation (99.04 for 12 hours).It can be concluded that BADDS is a superior, novel system that overcomes the drawback associated with the conventional buccal adhesive tablet.