3D Printing: A Promising Revolutionary Technology in Pharmaceutical Drug Development and Health Car

Abstract

The three-dimensional (3D) printing technique is an emerging paradigm shift in the field of drug manufacturing. It also proved to be a promising technology with respect to the pharmaceutical, clinical medicine, and regulatory sciences. It is a modern additive manufacturing technology in which digital information is used to produce a physical model. Unlike other subtractive and formative manufacturing processes which involve removing sections of material by machining or by cutting it away, in 3D printing technology objects are prepared from 3D model data in the process of joining materials layer by layer. In drug therapy, 3D printing has abundant opportunities for rapid preparation of multifunctional customized drug delivery systems with improved drug release features, flexible and personalized dosage forms, implants matching specific patient anatomical needs as well as cell-based materials for regenerative drug therapy and prosthesis. The 3D printing methods have gained vast importance in the field of pharmaceutical and medical applications. It is an interdisciplinary approach with the aim of exploring newer drug-delivery systems. 3D printing could also become a part of the drug production line in the pharmaceutical industry which tends to move towards personalized medicine along with mass manufacture. Presently 3D printing technology is broadly investigated in the field of drug delivery after the approval of the first 3D printed tablet containing an antiepileptic drug, levetiracetam under the trade name of Spritam® by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals in 2015. The present review recapitulates the novel applications of 3D printing technology in the field of pharmaceutical drug development and health care. It also reviews the working principle of various techniques of 3D printing along with their advantages and disadvantages.