Application of Hot Melt Extrusion in Pharmaceutical 3D Printing

3D printing is one of the rapid prototyping technology, which produces 3D products using layer-by-layer process from digital designs. 3D printing has gained a lot of attention in pharmaceutical industries since FDA approved a 3D-printed SPRITAM® (levitracetam 1000 mg) fast dissolving tablets for the adjunct treatment of myoclonic seizures and primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures. There are various 3D printing methods employed for the drug product manufacturing which are used based on the materials, equipment, and solidification. Hot melt extrusion (HME) is one of the techniques which is used for 3D printing. This review article discusses the application of HME in 3D printing of pharmaceutical products. Uniting Hot melt extrusion (HME) for 3D printing with solid freeform fabrication (SFF) such as Fluid deposition method (FDM) offer great chances for designing a wide variety of drug delivery systems.