Preformulation, Development and in-vitro Study of Bilayer Tablets of Lornoxicam

This work aims at designing, developing and characterizing a biphasic delivery dosage form of lornoxicam, a highly potent nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug with a short half-life, as a bilayered tablet in which the fast release pattern is achieved by a fast release layer and controlled release is achieved by a sustained release layer. Thus, lornoxicam is released in a soluble form in the stomach with the aim of reaching high serum concentration in a short period of time, ensuring rapid relief for the symptoms followed by an extended release of lornoxicam for more than 8 hs to avoid its repetitive administration and improve patients' compliance as well as minimize the incidence of its side effects. Solid dispersions of lornoxicam with acrysol and poloxamer 407 present in 1:2, 1:6 and 1:10 (drug/carrier) ratios as well as soluplus in 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 (drug/carrier) ratios were prepared and employed in the fast-release layer to enhance the dissolution of lornoxicam in the stomach and assure rapid onset of its analgesic effect. Polyox 205 LEO, Polyox 1105, carbopol 71G and Suglet as polymer were incorporated in different ratios in sustained release layer as release retardant materials.