3-D Printing and Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing (AM), which includes the 3-D printing process, may prove to be a game changer for biopharma as 3-D printing becomes widespread.
The AM process covers a range of categories defined by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) such as VAT photo-polymerization, binder jetting, material jetting, material extrusion, powder bed fusion, sheet lamination and directed energy deposition.
3-D printing refers to the various processes used in the manufacture of products by printing layers of material on top of each other following a digital 3-D model. This process is less wasteful than traditional subtractive manufacturing in which material is machined off from a material blank to make the final product.
AM technologies present new opportunities to pharmaceutical companies. Several printing technologies can be used in applications such as laser sintering and stereo lithography for devices, binder jetting for excipients and drugs and laser transfer for biologics. In addition, AM processes are applicable to medical devices such as implants, guides, imaging, controlled-release drugs along with biologics such as the cell and tissue structures, combination products and research and regulatory tools.