Thumbnail Image
Publication

3D Printing of a Multi-Layered Polypill Containing Six Drugs Using a Novel Stereolithographic Method

Robles-Martinez, P.
; 
Xu, X.
; 
Trenfield, S.J.
; 
Awad, A.
; 
Goyanes, A.
; 
Telford, Richard
; 
Basit, A.W.
; 
Gaisford, S.
Publication Date
2019-06
End of Embargo
Supervisor
Keywords
Three-dimensional printing, 3D printing, Fixed-dose combinations, Additive manufacturing, 3D printed drug products, Printlets, Tablets, Personalized medicines, Multiple-layer dosage forms, Stereolithography, Vat polymerisation
Rights
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
cb
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
2019-06-03
Institution
Department
Awarded
Embargo end date
Collections
Life Sciences Publications
Show all metadata
Files
Thumbnail Image
pharmaceutics-11-00274(3DPrints6layerpolypill).pdf
Adobe PDF, 3.59 MB
Additional title
Abstract
Three-dimensional printing (3DP) has demonstrated great potential for multi-material fabrication because of its capability for printing bespoke and spatially separated material conformations. Such a concept could revolutionise the pharmaceutical industry, enabling the production of personalised, multi-layered drug products on demand. Here, we developed a novel stereolithographic (SLA) 3D printing method that, for the first time, can be used to fabricate multi-layer constructs (polypills) with variable drug content and/or shape. Using this technique, six drugs, including paracetamol, cffeine, naproxen, chloramphenicol, prednisolone and aspirin, were printed with dfferent geometries and material compositions. Drug distribution was visualised using Raman microscopy, which showed that whilst separate layers were successfully printed, several of the drugs diffused across the layers depending on their amorphous or crystalline phase. The printed constructs demonstrated excellent physical properties and the different material inclusions enabled distinct drug release profiles of the six actives within dissolution tests. For the first time, this paper demonstrates the feasibility of SLA printing as an innovative platform for multi-drug therapy production, facilitating a new era of personalised polypills.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10454/17370
Version
Published version
Citation
Robles-Martinez P, Xu X, Trenfield SJ et al (2019) 3D Printing of a Multi-Layered Polypill Containing Six Drugs Using a Novel Stereolithographic Method. Pharmaceutics. 11(6): 274.
Link to publisher’s version
Link to published version
Link to Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics11060274
Type
Article
Qualification name
Notes