Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Company has announced in a press release the FDA approval of the first 3D printed medication, Spritam levetiracetam, which is an oral medication used in conjunction with other medications to treat seizures in adults and children with epilepsy. What’s so interesting about this? Well, some of those who suffer from epilepsy need a high dose of the medication but may have difficulty swallowing large pills (e.g. children or older adults). The ZipDose Technology allows Aprecia to use 3D printing technology to print a highly porous high-dose formulation that will quickly disintegrate with the sip of a liquid, thus delivering the dose quickly to the person needing it. Improving the ease delivery may help patients adhere to their treatment regimen and thus cut down on the number of seizures suffered. This may be the way all our medications are formulated in the future which would allow “doctors to know that the medicine they’re prescribing delivers the exact dose intended, as each pill will be completely uniform and tailored for the individual patient” according to Robert Szczerba from The Next Web.
