Structured approach for designing drug-loaded solid products by binder jetting 3D printing

Yingya Wang, Anette Müllertz, Jukka Rantanen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)
19 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Additive manufacturing allows for designing innovative properties to pharmaceutical products. Binder jetting (BJ) 3D printing is one of the key techniques within innovative manufacturing. In this study, a structured approach according to the Quality by Design (QbD) principles was implemented to explore the factors affecting fabrication of drug-loaded products produced by BJ 3D printing. The investigated factors included the weight ratio of binder in primary powder and the process parameters related to printing (layer thickness and number of layers). Critical quality attributes, namely disintegration time, tensile strength, friability, dimensions (diameter and height accuracies), residual water content, weight and drug loading were determined based on the quality target product profile of a tablet analogue. The experimental results with a 2-level full factorial design were modeled by multiple linear regression. It was found that binder content was an important factor determining the integrity of the printed products, and the formation of the microstructure of the product was affected by multiple material properties and process parameters. QbD is a systematic and effective approach providing mechanistic understanding of BJ 3D printing and allowing for an efficient design of products with the desired quality.

Original languageEnglish
Article number106280
JournalEuropean Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Volume178
Number of pages11
ISSN0928-0987
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was fully supported by Mille International ApS, Hellerup, Denmark. This work did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public or not-for-profit sectors.

Keywords

  • Binder jetting 3D printing
  • Oral drug delivery
  • Pharmaceutical products
  • Quality by Design

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