3D Printing

1. 3D PRINTING OF
PHARMACEUTICALS
PROF. DR. MANISH KUMAR, MMCP

2. CONTENTS
• What is 3D printing?
• How it works?
• Method and Technologies
• 3d Printing in Pharmaceutical Industry
• Advantages and Disadvantages
• Applications

3. What is 3D Printing?
• It was first developed by Charles haul in 1984.
• 3d printing or additive manufacturing is a process of making three
dimensional solid object from a digital file.
• The creation of a 3d printed object is achieved using additive
processes.
• In an additive process an object is created by laying down successive
layers of material until the object is created.

4. How it Works?
• It all start with making a virtual design of the object you want to
create.
• CAD( Computer Aided Design)uses a 3d modelling program or 3D
scanner for virtual design.
• The software slices the final model in hundreds or thousands of
horizontal layers.
• The printer creates the object layer by layer, resulting in one three
dimensional object.

5. METHOD AND TECHNOLOGIES
SEVERAL WAYS TO REALIZE 3D OBJECTS-
Selective laser sintering(SLS): Uses a high power laser to fuse input material like
plastic, metal, glass etc. It scans the powdered material layer by layer.
Fused deposition modelling(FDA): Uses a plastic filament or metal wire as input
material to an extrusion nozzle. The nozzle is heated to melt the material can be
moved in both horizontal and vertical direction by CAM. The material hardens
immediately after extrusion from the nozzle.
Stereolithography(SLA): Photopolymerization is used to produce a solid part from
a liquid. This technology employs a vat of liquid ultraviolet curable photopolymer
resin and an ultraviolet laser to build the object’s layers one at a time. UV laser
solidify the pattern.

6. Inkjet printing: In the technique different combination of active
ingredients and excipients(ink) are precisely sprayed in small droplets
(via drug on demand) or (continuous jet method) in varying sizes layer
by layer into a non-powder substate. The technique encompasses
powder-based 3D printing that use a powder foundation for the
sprayed ink where it solidifies into a solid dosage form.
Nozzle- based deposition system:
• It consist on the mixing of drugs and polymers and other solid
elements prior to 3D printing
• The mixture is passed through a nozzle that definitely originates, layer
by layer, the 3D product.

7. 3D Printing in Pharmaceutical
Industry
• In 2015, Aprecia pharmaceuticals produce the first tablet manufactured through
3D printing to be approved by FDA.
• Two years later, GlaxoSmithKline(GSK) completed a study where inkjet 3D printing
and ultraviolet(UV) were use to create tablets that treat Parkinson’s disease.
• With applications in controlled release, short-run medicines, and even the
potential for on-site printing at pharmacies, 3D printing technology has the ability
to transform the pharmaceutical industry.

8. • In the example of Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, 3D printing Was used to
reformulate the anti-epileptic medication levetiracetam.
• The new drug, Spritam, has a highly porous structure that could not be
reached with traditional manufacturing.
• The structure cause the pill to dissolve in seconds upon contact with
saliva, helping both elderly and young patients suffering from trouble
swallowing pills.

9. APRECIA ZIP DOSE
• Powder-liquid 3d printing technology was developed at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1980’s as a rapid prototyping technique.
• This technology uses an aqueous fluid to bind together multiple layers of powder
using a unique, patent- protected process to create a wide range of products.
• Aprecia developed ZipDose® platfom, which is designed to enable delivery of high
dose medications in a rapidly disintegrating form.
• ZipDose® Technology produces a product layer by layer without using
compression forces, punches, or dies.
MECHANISM: First a powder blend is deposited as a single layer. Then, an
aqueous blinding fluid is applied and interactions between the powder and liquid
bind these material together.
This process is repeated several times to produce solid, yet highly porous
formulation, even at high dose loading.

10. Advantages of 3D Printing in Pharmaceutical Filed
Ability to customize products
Rapid production of prototypes.
Low cost of production.
Improves the safety, efficacy and accessibility of
medicines.
Decreases storage cost

11. Disadvantages
Intellectual property issues
Unchecked production of dangerous items
Limitations of size
Limitations of raw material
Cost of printers is high

12. Applications

13. Potential use in improving process, modifying performance for industrial design,
aerospace, medical engineering, tissue engineering, architecture,
pharmaceuticals.
It mostly targets on the two potential sites to rise pharmaceutical products
development to unexplored areas, manufacturing sophisticated structures for
delivery and personalized medicine.
In healthcare industry to create dental implants.
On fabricating an organised release multi-drug implant for bone tuberculosis
remedy.
Helps in organ printing, biomaterial and cell laden material.