The objective of the present work was to improve micromeritic properties and dissolution rate of a poorly water soluble drug, carvedilol, by spherical agglomeration in presence of Inutec SP1. In the present work acetone, water and dichloromethane were used as good solvent, poor solvent and bridging liquid respectively for the agglomeration process. The prepared spherical agglomerates were evaluated for its percentage yield, drug content, morphology, thermal behavior, micromeritic properties and in vitro drug release. The percent drug content of spherical agglomerates was found to be in the range of 93.21±2.01 to 100.0±0.0. Differential scanning calorimetric and powder X-ray diffraction studies confirm that formulation process altered the crystalline nature of carvedilol. The recrystallized agglomerates exhibited significant increase (P <0.05 ) in micromeritic properties than untreated carvedilol. In vitro drug release studies indicated that the spherical agglomerates CI-1 showed significant increase (P<0.05) in dissolution rate than pure carvedilol alone.
Keywords: Carvedilol, Spherical Agglomeration, Inutec SP1, Micromeritic properties, Dissolution rate.