Aprecia's Spritam (Photo : Facebook)
The United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first 3D-printed prescription drug, which is a tablet used as a seizure treatment. Spritam is a powdered medication for adult and child epilepsy patients that dissolves when drunk with a liquid.
It is manufactured by Ohio-based Aprecia Pharmaceuticals. The company's 3D printing system can fill drug doses as high as 1,000 milligrams into single tablets, according to The Denver Post.
Aprecia refers to the technology used to produce the new drug as "ZipDose." It believes that it could greatly improve how patients take their medicines, as they and caregivers often complain about the difficulty of sticking to a treatment routine.
Another benefit of 3D-printed drugs is that they can be customized for individual patients. This differs from the common one-size-fits-all process that the medical industry usually implements for patients.
The powdered drug is produced by the 3D printer by stacking multiple layers atop each other until the three-dimensional meds appear. Then the printer blows off the extra powder.
An FDA spokeswoman confirmed that the medication is the first prescription tablet produced by the 3D printing method. Aprecia plans to launch the new drug during the first quarter of 2016.
The pharma believes that its 3D printing tech has much promise. It could possibly be used in the future for other medical innovations.
In fact, three-dimensional printing is already used in the healthcare industry. Applications include jaw and teeth replicas for dental implants, and models of cancerous body parts, according to Inforum.
Almost 3 million Americans have received an epilepsy diagnosis. That figure includes about 460,000 children.
