3D Printing: an appealing technology for the manufacturing of solid oral dosage forms

Abstract

Objectives: The traditional manufacturing methods of solid oral dosage forms (SODFs) are reported to be time-consuming, highly expensive and not tailored to the patient's needs. Three-dimensional printing (3DP) is an innovative emerging technology that can help to overcome these issues. The aim of this review is to describe the most employed 3DP technologies, materials and the state of the art on 3DP SODFs. Characterization techniques of 3DP SODFs, challenges and regulatory issues are also discussed.

Key findings: The interest in the investigation of the suitability of 3DP as an alternative strategy for the fabrication of SODFs is growing. Different 3DP technologies and starting materials have been investigated for the development of SODFs. Numerous SODFs with complex geometries and composition, and with different release patterns, have been successfully manufactured via 3DP. Despite that, just one 3DP SODF has reached the market.

Summary: 3DP can be a promising alternative to the classical SODFs manufacturing methods. However, numerous technically and regulatory challenges still need to be addressed in order 3DP to be extensively used in the pharmaceutical sector.

Keywords: 3D printing; oral drug delivery; oral solid dosage forms; pharmaceutics; polymers; three-dimensional printing.