As the pharmaceutical industry moves away from mass production towards a more personalised model, 3D printing of drugs has revolutionary potential. One of the main advantages is the possibility to personalise the drug products based on the patient’s needs.
The Chinese company Triastek is a global leader in pharmaceutical 3D printing. Using its MED 3D technology, Triastek develops its in-house drugs and partners with others to provide drug development solutions. MED 3D will enable digital pharmaceutical product development and intelligent drug manufacturing. Its printing platform allows for the customizable design of tablets, with different shapes and geometries controlling drug onset time, duration and drug interactions with the body. The first is a chronotherapeutic drug for rheumatoid arthritis. The second is a one-dose pill for cardiovascular and clotting disorders.
The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved its Investigational New Drug (IND) 505(b)(2) application for its first 3D printed drug product – T19, indicated for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Developed in-house, Triastek has global intellectual property rights to the T19 3D printed formulation. By 2025, the global RA market is predicted to reach $30.7 billion with T19’s unique chronotherapeutic delivery system, providing patients with a much-needed therapeutic option.
Patients take T19 at bedtime with the tablet-releasing drug in a delayed manner such that the blood concentration peaks in the early morning hours when the symptoms of pain, joint stiffness and dysfunction are most acute. T19 utilizes Melt Extrusion Deposition (MEDTM) 3D printing technology to achieve three-dimensional tablet structures that allow precise control of drug release to achieve the desired target PK in the human body, intending to address these unmet needs of RA patients.
Personalized medicines can be constructed to have sophisticated shapes and internal geometric structures that modulate the onset time, kinetics, duration and mode of drug release with great predictability and reproducibility. This customizable release kinetics can help to enhance therapeutic effects, lower side effects, improve compliance, and efficiently develop pharmaceutical products in different stages.
