FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF NAPROXEN AND PANTOPRAZOLE MULTILAYERED TABLETS

Naproxen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug suggested for the long term treatment of disease conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis poses an immediate risk of stomach ulceration. To avoid this risk, a proton pump inhibitor is often prescribed along with it. In the present study, Naproxen (500mg) is prepared in combination with Pantoprazole, a proton pump inhibitor as a multi-layer coated tablet. First, Naproxen is prepared as core tablet by wet granulation method. Then it is enteric coated to assist its delayed-release. Over this enteric coated tablet, Pantoprazole (20mg) drug layer is applied to get combination product. The prepared tablets were evaluated for physicochemical properties such as weight variation, hardness, friability, disintegration and drug content. The in-vitro drug release studies were conducted for Naproxen core tablets, Naproxen enteric coated tablets and multi-layered tablets in 0.1N HCl and 7.4 pH phosphate buffer. The analytical results obtained at several stages of preparation of the product were found to be satisfactory. The in-vitro drug release studies of Naproxen and Pantoprazole from multilayered tablets in 0.1N HCl and 7.4 pH phosphate buffer has shown that the release of drugs follow zero order kinetics.