The present study was undertaken with an aim to formulate, develop and evaluate gastroretentive floating tablets of Moxifloxacin HCl which release the drug in a sustained manner over a period of 12 h. Different hydrophilic and hydrophobic retardants were used in different combinations at different ratios for the preparation of tablets. The tablets were prepared by direct compression method and evaluated for tablet thickness, hardness, weight variation, friability, floating lag time and in vitro drug release. Formulation F11 with hydrophilic polymer (Methocel® K100M) and hydrophobic retardant (carnauba wax) considered as an optimized formulation. The optimized formulation showed satisfactory sustained drug release and remained buoyant on the surface of the medium for more than 12 h. It can also be concluded that floating drug delivery system of Moxifloxacin HCl can be successfully formulated as an approach to increase gastric residence time and thereby improving its bioavailability.
