SPRITAM- World's 1st 3-D printed tablet
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for the first time a pill or a tablet manufactured from 3-D printing technology. SPRITAM is the trademark registered tablet which is going to be marketed by 'Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Company' with active pharmaceutical ingredient being 'Levetiracetam'. Levetiracetam is an anti-convulsant drug used as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial onset seizures, myoclonic seizures and primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures in adults and children with epilepsy.
Don Wetherhold, CEO of Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, claims that by combining 3-D printing drug technology with highly prescribed epilepsy treatment, Spritam would fulfill the need for patients which struggles with their current medication experience. A porous formulation of the drug levetiracetam was developed by 3-D printing technology using its proprietary drug platform ZipDose technology that disintegrates rapidly with just a sip of water even at a high dose of 1g. Printing the powdered drug allows layers of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to be packed more tightly in a tablet to produce precise doses while the excess powder is blown off. 3-D printing works by creating an object layer by layer. In the case of medicines, printers are adapted to produce API rather than polymers which are more commonly used. Thus, 3-D printing of the drug offers a great potential in developing "personalized medicine" in medical institutions since the amount of drug can be varied accordingly to suit the patient's specific needs. Thus, medical practitioners would know how much amount of the drug in the pill is to be intended for a particular patient considering his/her various physico-chemical, genetic, environmental, occupational parameters.
According to company sources, Spritam (levetiracetam) is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2016. In clinical trials, the most common adverse effects in people taking Spritam included sleepiness, weakness, dizziness, and infection. In children, tiredness, aggressive behavior, nasal congestion, decreased appetite, and irritability have also been observed.
-DARWIN
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for the first time a pill or a tablet manufactured from 3-D printing technology. SPRITAM is the trademark registered tablet which is going to be marketed by 'Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Company' with active pharmaceutical ingredient being 'Levetiracetam'. Levetiracetam is an anti-convulsant drug used as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial onset seizures, myoclonic seizures and primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures in adults and children with epilepsy.
Don Wetherhold, CEO of Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, claims that by combining 3-D printing drug technology with highly prescribed epilepsy treatment, Spritam would fulfill the need for patients which struggles with their current medication experience. A porous formulation of the drug levetiracetam was developed by 3-D printing technology using its proprietary drug platform ZipDose technology that disintegrates rapidly with just a sip of water even at a high dose of 1g. Printing the powdered drug allows layers of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to be packed more tightly in a tablet to produce precise doses while the excess powder is blown off. 3-D printing works by creating an object layer by layer. In the case of medicines, printers are adapted to produce API rather than polymers which are more commonly used. Thus, 3-D printing of the drug offers a great potential in developing "personalized medicine" in medical institutions since the amount of drug can be varied accordingly to suit the patient's specific needs. Thus, medical practitioners would know how much amount of the drug in the pill is to be intended for a particular patient considering his/her various physico-chemical, genetic, environmental, occupational parameters.
According to company sources, Spritam (levetiracetam) is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2016. In clinical trials, the most common adverse effects in people taking Spritam included sleepiness, weakness, dizziness, and infection. In children, tiredness, aggressive behavior, nasal congestion, decreased appetite, and irritability have also been observed.
-DARWIN
