Dec 4, 2017 | By Benedict
London-based biotechnology company FabRx is repurposing a Magic Candy Factory 3D printer to dispense child-friendly medicines. The company will run a $67,500 Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the 3D printing project.
Magic Candy Factory might not be the most serious name in 3D printing, but with its 3D printers that can print customized gummy treats, the Katjes project is certainly providing younger consumers with a taste of what additive is all about.
Incredibly, those 3D printers used by Magic Candy Factory to create delicious gummy candies are now being used for something that is arguably much more important: medicine.
London biotech company FabRx is plotting a Kickstarter campaign for an exciting new project that involves adapting a Magic Candy Factory machine to print child-friendly medicines. The adapted 3D printer will be used to prepare medicines with precise doses, potentially combining multiple drugs in a range of formulations, including tablets, capsules, and chewable formulations.
“We want to use 3D printing to change the face of medicines manufacture and provide better access to medicines, especially for children,” says Alvaro Goyanes, development director at FabRx.
It sounds like a strange endeavor, but the project actually makes a lot of sense. Getting sick children to take medicine can be difficult: most medicines are unpleasant to look at, and some are unpleasant to taste or swallow. Knowing you need medicine because you’re sick can also be a pretty scary situation for kids.
That’s where the new FabRx 3D printer comes in. Because the printer will be able to do what the Magic Candy Factory printer did for candies, it will be able to print medicines in fun and colorful shapes—including designs chosen by the patients themselves—as well as delicious flavors.
This makes the process of taking medicine much more palatable for youngsters, and can even serve as a useful distraction from a potentially difficult situation. FabRx calls its 3D printed pills and tablets “printlets.”
The move to adapt the Magic Candy Factory 3D printer marks a change in thinking for FabRx, which just a few month ago was using a Sintratec SLS 3D printer to fabricate personalized pills. The company, which was formed by researchers at University College London, has also used common FDM 3D printers like MakerBot Replicators to create medicines.
A Kickstarter campaign for the new FabRx pharmaceutical 3D printer will be launched this Wednesday, December 6.
The campaign will look to meet its goal of 50,000 GBP ($67,500) by selling the pharmaceutical 3D printer itself for $10,519, as well as offering a wide range of other pledge rewards. These include samples of the 3D printed capsules and tablets (without any active pharmaceutical ingredients), naming rights, and invitations to major events.
FabRx’s claim that its forthcoming 3D printer is the “first 3D printer designed to print innovative medicines in hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies” may be a little bogus, depending on how you look at it. American pharma company Aprecia Pharmaceuticals started commercially producing Spritam, a 3D printed pill for epilepsy, back in 2016. FabRx, however, may be the first company putting a drug-printing printer on the market, as opposed to selling only the drugs themselves.
FabRx is planning a product launch for the first quarter of 2019. In a non-Kickstarter context, the cost of the 3D printer is expected to be 20,000 GBP ($26,320).
Posted in 3D Printer
Maybe you also like:
- Xact Metal introduces new mid-sized, multi-laser XM300 metal 3D printer
- NXT Factory completes beam delivery system for NXF1 'Quantum Laser Sintering' 3D printer
- Spanish company Tumaker launches €800 Voladd desktop 3D printer for beginners
- XYZprinting taking on industrial market with 5 new 3D printers
- Desktop Metal now taking international pre-orders for 'Studio System' metal 3D printer
- HP announces Jet Fusion 3D 4210, new 3D printing materials, expanded partner base for Open Materials Platform
- Fraunhofer ILT to unveil large-scale SLM 3D printing system at Formnext 2017
- VERASHAPE to launch new 5-axis VSHAPER 3D printer at formnext 2017
- Roboze releases new ARGO 500 3D printer for high-performance polymers
- SPEE3D announces global launch of LightSPEE3D metal 3D printer with ‘supersonic 3D deposition’
- Weaver desktop 3D printer offers hi-res SLA printing with F-theta lens, 50-micron laser spot
great what a creative person he is
3Ders.org provides the latest news about 3D printing technology and 3D printers. We are now seven years old and have around 1.5 million unique visitors per month.
