
3D pharma printing: Personalised medicine begins here
Ensuring the right dose and release profiles of medicines for individual patients, from infants to adults, is a time consuming challenge. In a joint collaborative initiative, Erasmus MC and TNO aim to solve this challenge through technology. They have developed a specialised 3D Pharma Printer for research and patient testing in clinical settings, which is now successfully installed at Maasstad Ziekenhuis in Rotterdam.
‘Every day we struggle to supply the right dose to children. We can really solve some of those problems with this printer.’
Tailoring treatment for each patient
An infant weighing a few kilos requires different medicine doses than an adult weighing 110 kilos. Yet medicines are only available in a few standard strengths. As a result, hospital staff must manually adjust these doses to suit each patient’s needs. With on demand medicine production at the point of care, it is now possible to tailor doses specifically to individual patients, allowing for more precise and personalised treatments with greater ease.
The 3D Pharma Printer can produce medicines automatically and on demand, according to the specific and distinct needs of each individual patient. The release profile, size and shape of the tablet can be customised. In the future, patients who require several medicines could even have them combined in the correct doses into a single tablet.
A step towards the future
With the installation of the 3D Pharma Printer in Maasstad Ziekenhuis, production of several medicine formulae can begin. In autumn 2025, Maasstad Ziekenhuis will also begin treating patients with these medicines. This marks the beginning of a new era: personalised medicine on demand.
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