Prolonged release bioadhesive vaginal gel dosage form

The present invention relates to a bioadhesive, prolonged release vaginal gel dosage form comprising a synergistic formulation of carrageenan, acrylic acid containing polymers, agarose and an effective amount of a therapeutic agent, whereby the therapeutic agent is released from this composition initially at a first relatively high rate, to provide a loading dose of the therapeutic agent, followed by a second, lower rate of release that provides a constant, maintenance dose of the therapeutic agent for up to 24 hours. More specifically, the present invention includes compositions within which the agarose is ultra low gelling temperature agarose and the acrylic acid containing polymer may be carbophil, a copolymer of acrylic acid and divinyl alcohol, a copolymer of acrylic acid and C10 to C30 alkyl acrylic acid or a polyacrylic acid homopolymer.