Personalised medicine with FABRX’s novel 3D printing technology

We are at the brink of a revolution in healthcare, with increasing accessibility to personalised medicine. One-size-fits-all medicines are 40-70% ineffective, leading to 1 in 15 hospitalisations in the UK costing millions to the NHS. The World Health Organisation, European Medical Agency, and US National Institute of Health, have all recognised the need for personalised dosage forms, tailored using patient data (age, weight, co-morbidities, gender, ethnicity, etc). The current method of personalisation, specials preparation in the UK, is prone to errors and relates to poor treatment adherence. 3D printing automates the preparation of personalised dosage at the point of care, making it more accessible and safer to prescribe. 3D printing also increases personalisation options available, with the ability to change flavour, colour, shape and multi-drug combinations depending on the patient’s needs, improving treatment adherence rates. Then as an additional exciting use-case, pharmaceutical 3D printing can be used in the pharma industry to speed up clinical trials.

Pharmaceutical 3D printing for personalised medicine is still a very novel field, but it is exponentially growing. The world’s first clinical study was led by FABRX in Spain in 2018. Results showed that their chewable, flavoured tablets with personalised dose had improved acceptability and bioavailability compared to standard filled capsule treatment. FABRX’s printers are now involved in more than 4 clinical trials this year, with 4 more in the pipeline. Regulatory bodies are now catching up, with the UK’s MHRA, the FDA in the US and the EMA in the European Union now all preparing regulation for point-of-care manufacturing, allowing for faster roll out of innovate solutions and breakthroughs to improve accessibility and safety of personalised medicine. 

FABRX is the leading company in the field of pharmaceutical 3D printing for personalised medicine. Their innovative 3D printing systems, the M3DIMAKER 3D printers, are GMP-ready for the rapid, automated production of novel dosage forms, personalised to the patient. FABRX is now looking for UK clinical partners to carry out exciting new research to make pharmaceutical 3D printing a reality for UK patients. They will be showing one of their M3DIMAKER printers at this year’s Clinical Pharmacy Congress, visit their stand to find out how to get involved now.