3D printing of complementary pre-polymers for oral delivery

Current 3D printing techniques of tablets involve destructive UV irradiation or high temperature that limit the use of sensitive drugs. Here, we describe a novel 3D printing technique based on two complementary liquid copolymers that are injected in a coordinate fashion to form a cross-linked 3D tablets. The successful synthesis of the pre-polymers were verified by ¹H-NMR and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Tablets swelled about 400% over 3 hours followed by a moderate disintegration. In-vitro cytotoxicity studied on 3T3 fibroblast cells demonstrated the safety of the tablets for oral administration. Finally, tablets were loaded with Prednisone resulting in 100% drug loading efficiency and a controlled release. Release rate could be controlled by coating with Eudragit^®. Thus, this unique method can be empowered to form an efficient oral drug delivery system with controlled release pattern and may provide desirable traits for drugs susceptible to heat or irradiation and possibly to other biomedical applications.

Keywords— 3D Printing, PEG, Caprolactone, Self Cross-Linking, Tablets