Controlled Drug Delivery of Hydrophobic Drug

Glipizide, an oral hypoglycemic agent, is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for the treatment of patients with type II diabetes mellitus. It is practically water-insoluble, thus it belongs to class-II of Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS). Glipizide has a relatively short elimination half-life (2-4 h), thereby requiring twice daily dosing in large number of patients, which often leads to non-compliance. Thus, there is a strong clinical need and market potential for a dosage form that will deliver glipizide in a controlled manner to a patient needing this therapy, thereby resulting in a better patient compliance. The aim of present investigation was to enhance the solubility by using -cyclodextrin binary complexation and impart a controlled release in a single formulation in order to reduce dosing frequency.