Metformin hydrochloride is an oral anti-diabetic drug used mainly to treat type II diabetes mellitus and available as several brands in the market which make it difficult to select the safe, effective and economic one. The aim of this research work was to check, compare and evaluate the quality standards of different brands of Metformin hydrochloride tablets available in local market of Kanpur, India. Four brands of Metformin tablets (500mg) were selected and evaluated comparatively for their physical and chemical parameters as per official method. The physiochemical equivalence of all the tablet brands were assessed through evaluation of both official and nonofficial standards such as uniformity of weight, friability, hardness, disintegration, assay and dissolution rate. Disintegration time for all brands was within 15 minutes prescribed by official compendium. All the four brands of Metformin hydrochloride tablets fulfilled the official in-vitro dissolution rate test specification more than 70% of the drug is released within 45 minutes. The present finding suggest that almost all brands of Metformin Hydrochloride that are available in Kanpur meet the I.P. specification for quality control analysis and interchangeable.
