3D Printing in Medicinal Chemistry: Applications, Prospective and Consideration

Abstract

Three Dimensional Printing (3D Printing) has been defined by ISO as “fabrication of objects through the deposition of a material using a print head, nozzle, or another printer technology”. 3D Printing has been trending in various disciplines from Science to Industry and Art. Being a tool of high precision and flexibility 3D Printing has been both recognized and challenged in the field of Medicinal Chemistry (MC). The purpose of this poster is to provide an overview of the current and prospective applications and of the debatable aspects of the intersection between 3D Printing and MC. This is a literature study. We have searched biomedical (Pubmed, Google Scholar) and tech – oriented (InTech) databases with key words (3D Printing, Medicinal Chemistry, considerations). We included studies authored in English or Greek and excluded studies declaring considerable conflict of interest. The concept 3D Printing has appeared back in 1984. It took about ten years to print the first 3D Printed placebo tablet through the DOS method. In the next two decades 3D Printing related research has focused on tissue engineering. Nonetheless after 2010 various novelties have been developed enabling manufacturers to produce non-placebo drugs in a wealth of forms including tablets (orodispersable, floating, multicompartment etc), insulin and implants. 3D Printing can be categorized under three major variants; Powder solidification, Liquid solidification and Extrusion based systems. It has been widely accepted that 3D Printing has the potential to revolutionize MC in terms of research and fabrication. Clinical trials can be considerably speeded up grace to the modifying properties of 3D Printing in pair with organ-in-a-chip technologies. Moreover pharmaceutical industry may be greatly altered given that 3D Printing will gradually enable single laboratories, pharmacists and potentially any trained individual to produce medication. The legibility of 3D Printing mediated clinical trials and the accessibility of 3D Printers are potential sources of controversy from a legal point of view.