3D printed tablets for controlled, tuneable drug release

a) Photographs of the printed solid tablet and honeycomb -like tablets with varying cell sizes between 0.20 mm and 1.83 mm. b) 3D μCT scan images obtained for the honeycomb architecture tablets, the right hand image has a digital cut-away

A paper has just been published in the Journal of Controlled Release, presenting a hot melt 3D inkjet printing method with the potential to manufacture formulations in complex and adaptable geometries for the controlled loading and release of medicines. 

For the first time, it has been shown that drug-loaded solid dosage forms with complex geometries can be manufactured using hot-melt 3D inkjet printing. Furthermore, variation in drug-release profiles can be obtained in a controllable way by combining the geometrical capability of 3D printing with predictive computational approaches.

This has implications for controlled release from solid dosage form to support a particular treatment regime. Geometric parameters, such as the cell diameter in the case of honeycomb geometry, can be used to alter release, as long as other influencing factors (e.g. wettability) are accounted for.

The purpose of this work was not to suggest that the honeycomb geometry is optimal for tablets, but to demonstrate the freedom afforded by varying the geometry on the control of drug release. It is anticipated that the development of this technique could provide an alternative manufacturing route for solid dosage forms with geometry flexibility and complexity suited for advanced drug delivery. Such geometries could, for example, be manipulated to achieve release profiles for personalised medicines or as a generic platform for different drugs, without the need to change basic formulation composition, processing parameters or manufacturing equipment. It is further indicated that the ink jet technique is ideal for printing tablets with highly controlled distributions of drug(s) within a complex geometry, which will further expand the window for designed drug delivery.

The work was supported by EPSRC (Grant EP/I01375X/1) and AstraZeneca at the Centre for Doctoral Targeted Therapeutics and Drug Formulation at the University of Nottingham.