3D printing of medicines: MB Therapeutics at the BioTrace congress
This Tuesday, the BioTrace congress brings together major players in healthcare innovation at the Faculty of Science of the University of Montpellier. Ian Soulairol, CTO and Co-founder of MB Therapeutics, is presenting the use of 3D printing to transform drug production while highlighting 3DforPedia, an award-winning project of his.
Award-winning expertise: the 3DforPedia project
In the pharmaceutical industry, manufacturing methods had not undergone any fundamental evolution for nearly 50 years. While mass production meets the needs of the majority of adults, it reaches its limits in pediatrics. Each child, depending on their pathology, weight, and age, requires a unique dosage one that is often unavailable in standard dosage forms.
The 3DforPedia project was born to address this public health challenge. A winner of the “Companies and Campus” initiative—a call for projects led by the Montpellier University Innovation Hub (PUI)—this program is the result of a collaboration between the Charles Gerhardt Institute of Montpellier (UM, CNRS, ENSCM), the Nîmes University Hospital, and MB Therapeutics. The goal: to develop an additive manufacturing process capable of producing tailor-made medications.
Pharmaceutical ink: the key to customization
The innovation relies on the development of a proprietary pharmaceutical ink. This formulation, which integrates active ingredients and excipients, allows for precise dosage adjustments during the printing process while introducing new galenic functionalities:
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- Dispersible and orodispersible forms: 3D printing enables the creation of medications that disintegrate rapidly in the mouth or in a very small volume of water, a major breakthrough for patients who have difficulty swallowing.
- Sustained release: The process allows the medication to be structured in a way that controls the diffusion of the molecule, offering an unprecedented option for personalized dosages.
3D printing of medications at BioTrace
Ian Soulairol’s participation in BioTrace highlights the specialized expertise involved in transforming academic research into industrial solutions. Building on the results of the 3DforPedia project, MB Therapeutics is demonstrating its ability to deploy 3D printing directly within pharmacies to produce tailor-made medications.
