^{2nd Middle East Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Conference}

The studies were undertaken to develop fast dissolving tablets of almotriptan maleate. Almotriptan is a second generation highly selective 5-HT 1B/1D agonist used to alleviate the migraine pain. Almotiptan is well-absorbed after oral administration, with an absolute bioavailablity of about 70% and elimination half-life of 3-4 hours. The fast dissolving tablets were formulated to enhance the drug dissolution characteristics and thereby to achieve quick onset of action. The tablets were prepared using various proportions of sodium starch glycolate, croscarmellose sodium, crospovidone as superdisintegrants. Magnesium stearate was used as glidant and aerosil was used as lubricant. The final weight of tablet was adjusted to 200mg using dicalcium phosphate as directly compressible vehicle. A control tablet was prepared using all excipients except superdisintegrants. Saccharin sodium and mannitol was used as sweeting agents. From the infrared spectral analysis, it was understood that there was no significant interaction between the drug and excipients used in the formulation. The drug content in all the tablet batches was found to be uniform. The friability test of all the formulation was found to be less than 1% which indicates the resistant to abrasion. The hardness of prepared tablets ranged from 3.5-4.5 kg/ cm2. The prepared tablets were found to be uniform in weight and weight variation was within the limit of ±7.5%. The results of dissolution studies showed the rapid and fast dissolution of almotriptan maleate when compared to the control tablet. Among the superdisintegrants used, crospovidone 4% gave fastest drug release when compared to other batches.