New research in 3D printing shows benefits of powder bed printed tablets

TNO 0302

Goch, Germany (4th June 2021) – New research initiated and supported by DFE Pharma, a global leader in innovative pharmaceutical excipient products and services, underlines the benefits of 3D powder bed printed tablets with a blend of lactose monohydrate and pregelatinized starch as main carrier system.

Key researcher and Senior Product Developer at DFE Pharma Korinde van de Heuvel, comments on the relevance of this study: “There is limited literature available on excipient selection for 3D printing, even though the only marketed 3D printed drug is prepared with powder bed printing. However, it is key to understand powder blend characteristics in relation to tablet characteristics when using pharmaceutical 3D printing - in order to obtain tablets that comply with pharmaceutical specifications.”

The study looked at the impact of different particle size distributions of lactose-starch base formulations on key critical material attributes such as wettability, consolidation and flowability. One of the main findings was that optimizing the base formulation and print settings should be in conjunction as they are closely related. Also the selection of the right functional excipients is vital to obtain 3D printed tablets meeting industry standards.

As a company with over a century of expertise, DFE Pharma has the right excipient portfolio and expertise to support customers in their 3D printing journey.

Click here to access the research or visit 3D | DFE Pharma for more information.