Three Dimensional Printing by Hot-Melt Extrusion; New Era for Development of Personalized Medicines and Continuous Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals

The three-dimensional printing is a growing field in engineering, civil constructions and pharmaceutical development. The three-dimensional printing is a one-step continuous process. However, conventional manufacturing is batch by batch process hence the three-dimensional manufacturing is advantageous over conventional manufacturing. The three-dimensional technique is cost effective and time-saving process. The three-dimensional printing is a rising era in the development and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals such as medical devices, oral dosage forms and some modified-release products. The personalized dose adjustment as per patient requirement is easier due to three dimensional printing. Hence, the personalized dosage forms are more preferable for potent drugs to avoid the adverse drug reactions and accuracy of a therapeutic drug. The three-dimensional technique equipped with hot-melt extrusion is recently used for the development of various pharmaceutical products. The fused disposition model is commonly employed for the development of layer by layer products. However, the hot-melt extrusion was previously used in pharmaceuticals for solubility enhancement. Currently ample of applications of hot-melt extrusion is explored in research and one of them is the manufacturing of personalized pharmaceuticals. The dose adjustment and personalized pharmaceutical development will be achieved by three dimensional technique equipped with hot-melt extrusion. There is a wide range of polymeric materials with superior properties available for three-dimensional printing of pharmaceuticals. This review briefly discussed the applications of three-dimensional techniques for pharmaceutical development with suitable examples. The current scenario of the techniques and future perspectives are also discussed.