Design of a 24-hour controlled porosity osmotic pump system containing PVP: formulation variables

The purpose of this study was to design a 24-hour controlled porosity osmotic pump system that utilizes polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as an osmotic-suspending/release retarding agent of drugs.

Osmotic tablet cores containing various ratios of ketoprofen and PVP were prepared by wet granulation and initially spray coated with similar solution of cellulose acetate. A formulation containing ketoprofen and PVP at a ratio of 1:7 was selected for further studies.

The final formulation containing PVP K-30 in the tablet core augmented the release of ketoprofen (poorly water-soluble) up to 90 % over 24 hours much higher than either PVP K-25 or PVP K-90 and retarded the release of pseudoephedrine HCl (highly water-soluble) up to 18 hours.

This study proposed the dual use of PVP in osmotic pump systems containing solids to modulate the release of either poorly or highly water-soluble drug.