Recent Progress in 3D Printing of Pharmaceuticals: Personalized Medicine and On-Demand Dosage Forms

Additive manufacturing (also referred to as 3D printing, 3DP) has become a disruptive technology in the pharmaceutics industry, providing an opportunity to produce individualized and custom dosage forms on demand. In contrast to traditional manufacturing where batch production is used, 3DP has the ability to control drug dose, geometry, and release profiles accurately thereby managing interpatient variability and enhancing therapeutic outcomes. To show the clinical viability of 3D printed medicines, the FDA approval of Spritam® (levetiracetam) in 2015 was a milestone. Other types of 3DP technology, including inkjet printing, Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), stereolithography (SLA), and Semi-Solid Extrusion (SSE), have been effectively used to print custom formulation as polypills, orally disintegrating tablets, and implants. Such innovations can improve patient compliance, maximize pediatric, geriatric, and chronic disease therapy and point-of-care production in the hospital, pharmacy, and resource-limited environments. Regulatory, reproducibility, and scalability issues notwithstanding, in the recent past, the field of translational 3DP in pharmaceutics has been pointed out as a promising field of research. It is likely that artificial intelligence, digital health, and telepharmacy will continue to support its contribution to precision medicine. This review provides an overview of recent advances, policy implications, and case studies with a focus on how 3DP can transform the drug delivery model and define the future of personalized healthcare.