Pro-drug Technology: Additive Manufacturing of Personalised Drug Dosage Forms

Description:

Innovative 3D printable prodrugs are used to create solid dosage forms using additive manufacturing (AM) technology. Active ingredients, such as ibuprofen/paracetamol, loaded tablets would contain one or more structures and cavities (or similar) to provide a tailorable drug release profile and enable customisable delay/transit through the stomach/GI tract. In addition, use of AM multi-material inkjet 3D printing enables precise creation of dosage forms incorporating customizable structures/API layers that provide highly tailorable drug release profiles based on dosage form design, geometry, dissolution profile, including materials which respond to external factors, e.g., changing pH levels.

Summary

Innovative polymerised pro-drug formulations produced via Additive Manufacturing (AM)
Drug molecules bonded to reactive monomer by decomposable bonding to form reactive pro-drug
Reactive pro-drug then polymerized during AM process (e.g. 3D printing etc) into macromolecules with drug attached
Ability to create 3D forms (tablets, medical inserts etc) using low viscous and high drug loading formulations
Flexibility and control via polymerisation and AM processes results in highly controllable / tailorable release dosage forms

Key Benefits

Ability to create various personalised medicines (e.g. tablet, inserts etc) with tuneable release dose profiles tailored for groups, conditions or even individuals
UON technology outperforms know technologies (competitors <10% drug loading, UON has >50%)
Process adaptable to range of formulations and AM processes
Support premium drug brands –seeking innovation / differentiation

Progress

Exemplar system synthesized using a model drug (Ibuprofen)
Shown to exhibit 54% drug loading and suitably for material jetting (3D printing)
Range of formulations developed and successfully printed
Resulting pro-drug 3D structures demonstrated tailorable spatial drug distribution and dose releasing behaviours -with tuneable releasing speed: release control was achieved from molecular level, geometric level, and spatial distribution level

Status