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PERSPECTIVE

3D printing for drug manufacturing: A perspective on

the future of pharmaceuticals

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Eric Lepowsky and Savas Tasoglu 1,2,3,4,5*
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
3 Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
4 Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
5 The Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

Abstract: Since a three-dimensional (3D) printed drug was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2015,
there has been a growing interest in 3D printing for drug manufacturing. There are multiple 3D printing methods – including
selective laser sintering, binder deposition, stereolithography, inkjet printing, extrusion-based printing, and fused deposition
modeling – which are compatible with printing drug products, in addition to both polymer filaments and hydrogels as
materials for drug carriers. We see the adaptability of 3D printing as a revolutionary force in the pharmaceutical industry.
Release characteristics of drugs may be controlled by complex 3D printed geometries and architectures. Precise and unique
doses can be engineered and fabricated via 3D printing according to individual prescriptions. On-demand printing of drug
products can be implemented for drugs with limited shelf life or for patient-specific medications, offering an alternative to
traditional compounding pharmacies. For these reasons, 3D printing for drug manufacturing is the future of pharmaceuticals,
making personalized medicine possible while also transforming pharmacies.
Keywords: three-dimensional (3D) printing; drug dosing and delivery; drug release characteristics; hydrogels; personalized
medicine
*Correspondence to: Savas Tasoglu, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of
Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, United States of America; savas.tasoglu@uconn.edu

Received: August 23, 2017; Accepted: September 18, 2017; Published Online: September 25, 2017

Citation: Lepowsky E and Tasoglu S, 2018, 3D printing for drug manufacturing: A perspective on the future of
pharmaceuticals. Int J Bioprint, 4(1): 119. http://dx.doi.org/10.18063/IJB.v4i1.119

1. Introduction has been growing since the Food and Drug Adminis-
tration (FDA) approved the first 3D printed drug in
Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an additive manu- 2015 [1,21] . Several methods and materials have since
facturing method whereby successive layers of material been investigated and demonstrated to serve this pur-
are deposited/solidified to form a 3D structure. This pose [1,23–25] . Selective laser sintering (SLS) is the most
technology has been applied in numerous fields, re- analogous method to the common drug manufacturing
presenting the large variety of possible applications, process of powder pressing, in that it relies on loose
[1]
including the consumer goods industry , aerospace powder that becomes joined into a solid object. Another
research [2,3] , regenerative medicine [4–12] , medical device powder-based method is binder deposition, in which a
development [13–19] and the automotive industry [20] . liquid binding solution is printed onto a bed of powder.
An emerging application of 3D printing is for drug Stereolithography, the selective solidification of a pool/
manufacturing [21,22] . bed of photosensitive material, may also be used for drug
Interest in 3D printing of pharmaceutical products manufacturing. Inkjet printing offers high resolution

3D printing for drug manufacturing: A perspective on the future of pharmaceuticals. © 2018 Lepowsky E and Tasoglu S. This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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