If guns, bars of chocolate, even entire houses can be 3D printed now, and the biotechnology industry is even working on printing out living cells; why would the appearance of 3D printed drugs be surprising? It’s a logical sequel that’s already happening.
In August 2015, the FDA approved an epilepsy drug called Spritam that is made by 3D printers. It prints out the powdered drug layer by layer to make it dissolve faster than average pills. In June 2015, the UK’s Daily Mail reported that scientists from University College of London are experimenting with 3D printing drugs in odd shapes; such as dinosaurs or octopuses in order to make it easier for kids to take pills. Those scientists, namely Professor Abdul Basit and Professor Simon Gaisford, saw a huge potential in 3D printing for medicine and pharma; thus they established FabRx in 2014. They told The Medical Futurist that they would be able to commercialize printed tablets within the next 5-10 years.