Filament-based 3D-printing of placebo dosage forms using brittle lipid-based excipients

Moaaz Abdelhamid, Ioannis Koutsamanis, Carolina Corzo, Mira Maisriemler, Ana Belén Ocampo, Eyke Slama, Carolina Alva, Dirk Lochmann, Sebastian Reyer, Tanja Freichel, Sharareh Salar-Behzadi*, Martin Spoerk

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In order to expand the limited portfolio of available polymer-based excipients for fabricating three-dimensional (3D) printed pharmaceutical products, Lipid-based excipients (LBEs) have yet to be thoroughly investigated. The technical obstacle of LBEs application is, however their crystalline nature that renders them very brittle and challenging for processing via 3D-printing. In this work, we evaluated the functionality of LBEs for filament-based 3D-printing of oral dosage forms. Polyglycerol partial ester of palmitic acid and polyethylene glycols monostearate were selected as LBEs, based on their chemical structure, possessing polar groups for providing hydrogen-bonding sites. A fundamental understanding of structure–function relationship was built to screen the critical material attributes relevant for both extrusion and 3D-printing processes. The thermal behavior of lipids, including the degree of their supercooling, was the critical attribute for their processing. The extrudability of materials was improved through different feeding approaches, including the common powder feeding and a devised liquid feeding setup. Liquid feeding was found to be more efficient, allowing the production of filaments with high flexibility and improved printability. Filaments with superior performance were produced using polyglycerol ester of palmitic acid. In-house designed modifications of the utilized 3D-printer were essential for a flawless processing of the filaments.

Original languageEnglish
Article number122013
JournalInternational Journal of Pharmaceutics
Volume624
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Aug 2022

Keywords

  • filament-based 3D printing
  • Lipid-based excipients
  • Pharmaceutical dosage form
  • Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids
  • Solid lipid extrusion
  • Sustainable manufacturing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pharmaceutical Science

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