Preparation and Evaluation of Controlled Release Propranolol Hydrochloride Beads

Conventional pan coating method was utilized to prepare propranolol-HCl sustained release coated beads. Eudragit RS 100 was used as release controlling materials. Overcoating of the beads with beeswax was also investigated. The beads were characterized for their particle size distribution, drug loading efficiency and their dissolution behaviour in 0.1N HCl, Most of the finished beads (72.4%) fall in the particle size range 800-1700 um. The actual drug content, calcu-lated as opposed to the theoretical drug content were 77.6% and 74.2% of the drug for the beads having particle size range 1700-1250 um and 1250-800 um respectively, The coating level of the polymer, the particle size of the beads and overcoating with beeswax play a major role in determining the release rate of the drug from the coated beads.