ORAL MULTIPARTICULATE PULSATILE DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS: A REVIEW

Pulsatile drug delivery aims to release drugs in a planned pattern i.e. at appropriate time and/or at a suitable site of action. Pharmaceutical invention and research are increasingly focusing on delivery systems which enhance desirable therapeutic objectives while minimising side effects. However, in recent pharmaceutical applications involving pulsatile delivery, multiparticulate dosage forms are gaining much favour over single-unit dosage forms because of their potential benefits like predictable gastric emptying, no risk of dose dumping, flexible release patterns and increased bioavailability with less inter- and intra-subject variability. Based on these, the present review aims to study multiparticulate pulsatile delivery systems, for which the Reservoir systems with rupturable polymeric coatings and Reservoir systems with erodible polymer coatings are primarily involved in the control of release. Multiparticulate drug delivery systems provide tremendous opportunities for designing new controlled and delayed release oral formulations, thus extending the frontier of future pharmaceutical development. The development of low density floating multiparticulate pulsed-release dosage forms possessing gastric retention capabilities has also been addressed with increasing focus on the upcoming multiparticulate-pulsatile technologies being exploited on an industrial scale.