American Journal of Advanced Drug Delivery www.ajadd.co.uk American Journal of Advanced Drug Delivery www.ajadd.co.uk Original Article Development and Optimization of Orally Dissolving Film of Zolpidem Tartarate Vinay Umesh Rao * , P.Sai Sruthi, M. Sudhakar, K.Kishore Kumar Malla Reddy College of Pharmacy, Maisammaguda, Post Dhulapally, Secunderabad 500014, India. ABSTRACT Zolpidem tartarate (ZT) is indicated for the short-term treatment of insomnia characterized by difficulties with sleep initiation. The objective of this research was to prepare oral dissolving films (ODF) containing ZT. Different combinations of polymers and plasticizers were evaluated for optimizing the physical properties and the in vitro drug release. Films were prepared and subjected to various physicochemical evaluations and in vitro dissolution studies. The film prepared using HPMC E15 (F4) with 1:1 ratio of drug and polymer with glycerol as plasticizer were considered to have acceptable physical properties, disintegration time of below 60 seconds and > 85% of drug release within 5 minutes and hence were considered as optimum. Keywords: Zolpidem Tartarate (ZT), oral dissolving film (ODF), HPMC E15, in vitro drug release. INTRODUCTION Insomnia, or sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which there is an inability to fall asleep or to stay a sleep as long as desired. Insomnia is most often thought of as both a sign and a symptom that can accompany several sleeps, medical, and psychiatric disorders characterized by a persistent difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep or sleep of poor quality 1,2 . ZT is a prescription medication used for the treatment of insomnia and some brain disorders. It is a short-acting non benzodiazepine hypnotic of the imidazo- pyridine class that potentiates GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, by binding to GABA A receptors at the same location as benzodiazepines. It works quickly, usually within 15 minutes, and has a short half-life of two to three hours. ZT is used for short-term (usually about two to six weeks) treatment of insomnia. It has not proven effective in maintaining sleep and is more used for sleep initiation problems 3,4 . Rapidly disintegrating or quick disintegrating dosage forms have acquired great importance in the pharmaceutical industry 5-7 due to their unique properties and advantages. They undergo disintegration in the salivary fluids of the oral cavity within a minute, where they release the active Date of Receipt- 18/07/2013 Date of Revision- 22/07/2013 Date of Acceptance- 01/08/2013 Address for Correspondence Malla Reddy College of Pharmacy, Maisammaguda, Post Dhulapally, Secunderabad 500014, India. E-mail: vinayrao68 @gmail.com