Zidovudine is a drug used for the treatment of AIDS. The objective of this work was to prepare tablets for modified release of zidovudine. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose HPMC K100LV and HPMC K4M at 12.50 %, 18.75 % and 25.00 % were used. The tablets produced with 12.50 % of HPMC reached 100 % of the zidovudine release in 6 hours, while those produced with 18.75 and 25.00 %, released 24 h, following the Higuchi and First Order kinetic models, respectively. The calculated release exponent pointed out that formulations follow the anomalous type of release mechanism, with a combined phenomena of diffusion and erosion.