For the first time, a drug manufactured by 3D printing has received authorization from the US Health Authority.
The American Medicines Agency, the FDA, has authorized the marketing of the first drug produced by a 3D printer. This is Spritam, a tablet to dissolve in water prescribed for the treatment of seizures.
Developed by the American laboratory Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, this drug should be marketed at the beginning of 2016. In a press release, the company also indicates that it is developing several drugs produced using this technology. She specifies that her research focuses on treatments for diseases related to the central nervous system, namely the brain and spinal cord.
The hope of personalized medicine
For some experts, such as Dr Mohamed Albed Alhnan, lecturer in pharmacology at the University of Central Lancashire (Great Britain) interviewed by the BBC, producing drugs by 3D printing makes it possible to personalize treatments by adapting the dose to each patient. “For fifty years, we have been manufacturing drugs in factories before sending them to hospitals. For the first time, this process will make it possible to manufacture tablets or cachets much closer to patients, ”he explained.
Currently, 3D printing makes it possible to design dental or bone prostheses. Described as revolutionary, this technology may one day be used to manufacture tissues, blood vessels, and even entire organs.
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