The design of effective drug delivery systems has recently become an integral part of the development of new medicines. The objective of this study was to develop oil entrapped buoyant bead of calcium pectinate blended hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) or Carbopol 934P in order to evaluate its potential in the targeted sustained delivery of amoxicillin in the gastric region. The formulation was prepared by inotropic gelation technique using sodium bicarbonate as gas forming agent and formulation was emulsified with mineral oil .The gel beads were evaluated in term of bead diameter, floating %, encapsulation efficiency and in vitro drug release. The drug release was demonstrated as sustained pattern for 8 h, which was best fitted in the Peppas model with n < 0.45. Formulation of the batch was coated with ethyl cellulose (EC). Optimized coated microbeads were exbited zero-order sustained pattern of the drug release up to 8 h. Hence prepared gel bead may be used to incorporate antibiotics like amoxicillin and may be effective when administered locally in the stomach against microbial infection like H. pylori.
