You meet with your doctor in his office. On this occasion, they were diagnosed with a not very serious disease, which, according to the professional, should completely disappear after a couple of drugs with certain doses. Your doctor then goes to the 3D printer next to his desk and after entering some data proceed to print the medicine you need in the specific doses you need. Sounds like science fiction, right? Well, that’s not the case anymore.
Company Curifabs set to work to bring this scenario to life. As such, they aim to facilitate and democratize the manufacture of personalized medicines that improve patient health more effectively and at lower product costs.
Among those who benefit from this technology, not only people. As commented from the middle TheNextWebwho had the opportunity to talk with the founder of a startup, this process is aimed at automating pharmacology, ”3D drug printers in hospitals and veterinary clinics“.
3D drug printing could change the landscape of modern medicine
As we already know, modern medicine has managed to stay affordable (at least in some countries) thanks to the mass production of medicines. Nonetheless, the cost of the materials and energy it generates around the world is quite dramatic.as well as the abuse of consumption of the same.
Powered by CurifyLabs technology, founded by Niklas Sandler Topelius, former Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology at Abo Academy University. Medicines can be printed in different shapes and flavors to make them easier for children and pets to consume.. But in addition to this more superficial change, they can also release the substances they contain at different rates, adapting to each person’s body.
Best of all, it doesn’t change or degrade the quality of the drugs. Actually, continue to maintain its pharmaceutical standard, both at the level of composition and at the level of useful life. Of course, using much less material.
A concept that originated in inkjet printers
That’s it. Although today Niklas Sandler Topelius already sees the future of medicine in a small tablet made from 3D printing, the truth is that the idea was born first in inkjet printers. Having bought one of these devices in a supermarket, Sandler Topelius started replacing ink in cartridges with pharmaceutical ingredients. The result was drugs in 2D, and from there they moved into the third dimension.
Luckily for the patients of the future, the new company has over 100 peer-reviewed papers. Among them, 60 belong to the field of 3D printed medicines.
Currently and since its inception in 2021 CurifyLabs reaches €3.5M funding. While this amount is nothing more than a grain of sand on the pharmaceutical industry’s billion-dollar beach, it’s an encouraging number for a technology that could bring many benefits.
Actually, creating drugs to order is something that would be extremely useful in psychiatric medicine.. Patients in this area often go through months of trial and error with different medications, breaking pills in half. In many cases, they have to do this in several installments until they get an amount that really suits their needs. For this reason, the ability to create customized medicines is a big step forward in the relationship between patients and medical centers.
Source: Hiper Textual
