The purpose of this investigation was to prepare gastroretentive drug delivery systems of cefuroxime axetil floating tablets by HPMC K4M, K15M and K100M, sodium alginate. Cefuroxime axetil is a second generation cephalosporin with broad spectrum of activity with low bioavailability (32-50%), shorter biological half life (80min). It’s better absorption from upper part of gastrointestinal tract. In the preparation of cefuroxime axetil floating tablets sodium bicarbonate was incorporated as a gas generating agent. The prepared tablets exhibited satisfactory physical parameters and good in vitro buoyancy. The invitro drug release of floating tablets followed non fickian diffusion controlled release and are best explained by Korsmeyer Peppas equation. The radiographic pictures in the healthy human volunteers confirm the in vivo buoyancy in the stomach for 6h (n=3). Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy studies of optimized cefuroxime axetil floating tablets showed no drugexcipient interaction.

Key words: Cefuroxime, Polymers, Controlled release, Floating tablets.