Multiply Labs wants to 3D-print pills to tailor medication to patients' specific needs. Not only will this leave them with only one pill to swallow, the dosage of ingredients can be more precisely tailored to patients' specific needs.
In a blog post on Medium.com, Fred Parietti, CEO of Multiply Labs, explains his company's plans. Many patients take a combination of medications every day, taken in different pills. Not only do patients have to make sure to take every pill needed every day, they may also need to take medication at different times. This makes it difficult for patients to follow their doctor's instructions exactly, which can have a negative impact on the outcome of treatments.
'Every human body is unique'
Parietti also points out that every human body is unique and needs a unique treatment. However, medications are mass-produced in factories, with medications being tailored to the needs of large groups of users. "We need an opposite approach: a single tailor-made daily capsule that meets the needs of each patient. At Multiply Labs, we use advanced robotic systems to produce these personalised capsules," Patietti writes.
"Mass-produced pills have more implications. For example, if a drug is only available in 50 mg and 100 mg pills, a doctor is forced to prescribe one of the two. But what if the correct dosage for a patient is 65 mg? Using a standard pill leads to under- or overdose."
Tailor-made medication
Multiply Labs is tackling this problem by developing customised capsules for patients. These pills contain compartments, making it possible to incorporate multiple types of medication into one pill. Once the pill is taken, the capsule dissolves and the contents are released into the body. By giving the wall of the different compartments a different thickness, it is possible to deliver medication in phases. For example, one drug can be delivered immediately because the compartment dissolves immediately after ingestion, while another drug is only delivered after several hours.
The company argues that this approach is not possible with current medication manufacturing technologies. "The only way to bring personalised pharmaceutical products to all patients who need them is through the use of pioneering robotic technology," writes the CEO of Multiply Labs.
Robotised manufacturing process
The company's manufacturing process is entirely controlled by robots. The system receives a personalised recipe and, based on this recipe, creates tailor-made unique capsules for the patient within minutes. The process is divided into two parts: forming the capsule and filling the different compartments of this capsule.
If capsules need to be printed in small runs, 3D printing can be used for this purpose. Is there a need for larger production runs? Then injection moulding can also be chosen. The capsules are manufactured from pharmaceutical polymers specifically designed to release medication into the human body.
Compartment filling
After the capsules are produced, robots are used to put the right amount of the right medication into each compartment. Multiply Labs has developed its own robot to pour this medication into the capsules in powder form. According to the company, the system is flexible enough to print small runs of as few as 30 capsules, equivalent to a patient's monthly requirement.
Parietti also argues that the use of robotic technology helps improve production quality. For instance, the CEO points out that in a standard industrial process, less than 1% of pills are actually tested. Multiply Labs' robots check every pill produced. This involves looking at the weight of each ingredient put into each compartment of each pill.
Bringing to market
Currently, Multiply Labs is working with pharmaceutical companies to bring the solution to market. What timeframe the company has in mind for this is not known.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
