3D printing of pharmaceuticals: the future of individualized medicine or just another hype?

Over the last few years, 3D printing has gained an immense increase in interest. Due to its easy accessibility and usability, and because of its enormous possibilities as an additive manufacturing technology, the great potential of this technology has not gone unnoticed in the pharmaceutical sector. This has resulted in a hype, accompanied by the approval of the first 3D-printed finished drug Spritam® by the FDA in 2015 [1]. The term 3D printing covers a wide variety of manufacturing techniques. What all processes have in common is that the object to be printed is built up layer by layer. The following methods are mainly used in the pharmaceutical industry: stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), binder jetting, inkjet printing and fused deposition modelling (FDM®). The use of 3D printing technologies for the production of pharmaceuticals offers numerous possibilities. For example, the flexibility of the manufacturing process enables relatively simple dose individualisation. This may be necessary to adequately take into account patient-specific parameters such as age, body weight, height, kidney and liver function, gender and ethnicity of the patient [2,3], which is an advantage compared to conventional manufacturing processes, which are usually used to produce only a few selected potent dosages. It is also possible to produce pharmaceuticals with different combinations of active ingredients using 3D printing [3]. A specific adjustment of the release kinetics of the dosage form can also be realised using 3D printing [4,5]. Certain 3D printing processes also offer the possibility of producing amorphous solutions or dispersions of drugs to increase solubility and thus also bioavailability [6,7]. The aim of the talk is to provide an introduction to the field of 3D printing. Different 3D printing processes will be covered. Advantages and disadvantages will also be addressed. This will be followed by a brief academic perspective on the benefits of 3D printing in the field of pharmacy.