Compounding Tailored Veterinary Chewable Tablets Close to the Point-of-Care by Means of 3D Printing

Abstract

Certain patient populations receive insufficient medicinal treatment due to a lack of commercially available products. The number of approved veterinary products is limited, making animals a patient population with suboptimal medicinal treatments available. To answer to this unmet need, compounding and off-label use of human-marketed products are practiced. Both of which have a significant risk of preparation errors. Hence, there is a dire demand to find and implement a more automated approach to the accurate, precise, and rapid production of veterinary dosage forms close to the point-of-care. This study aimed to assess the use of semi-solid extrusion-based 3D printing for the preparation of tailored doses of theophylline in the form of a chewable dosage form suitable for veterinary use. This study proved that semi-solid extrusion-based 3D printing could successfully be utilized to manufacture pet-friendly, chewable theophylline-loaded tablets. The prepared dosage forms showed a high correlation (R2 = 0.9973) between the designed size and obtained drug amount and met the USP and Ph. Eur. content uniformity criteria. Furthermore, the stability study showed the dosage form being stable and able to be used for up to three months after printing.

3D printing of pharmaceuticals for disease treatment

“…Fixed-dose combinations are the new kind of formulations that achieve optimal goals for the treatment of disease with minimal side effects resulting in improved patient compliance ( 9 ). Chewable theophylline tablets for veterinary purposes were evaluated to meet an unmet need for precise off-label use of non-human products ( 10 ). Drug-loaded 3D films were developed for understanding the patient-centric effect of the drug release phenomenon ( 11 ).…”

Innovations in Chewable Formulations: The Novelty and Applications of 3D Printing in Drug Product Design

“…In this regard, 3D printing has been used for the production of animal prosthetics and implants [217][218][219] as well as veterinary dosage forms. Representative examples include orodispersible films containing prednisolone for the treatment of inflammatory diseases in cats and dogs (Figure 8A) [220], chewable tablets (or ChewTs) containing theophylline for the treatment of asthma (Figure 8B) [221] or gabapentin for the treatment of neuropathic pain or prevention of seizures [222], both for use in cats and dogs. Dosage forms with precise doses and palatability could be 3D printed, especially using SSE technology, in the veterinary clinic or at the owner's home to ensure their suitability for the pet [11,220].…”

“…Further examples on 3D printing for animal use can be found in previous reviews [223,224]. [220] and (B) theophylline chewable tablets [221], in different sizes. All images were reprinted with permission from their original sources.…”

“…As mentioned in previous sections, a chewable tablet must ideally be [41]: easy to chew, palatable, have an appropriate size and shape, and disintegrate readily. In this section, the main recommendations and assays that should be carried out to ensure the [220] and (B) theophylline chewable tablets [221], in different sizes. All images were reprinted with permission from their original sources.…”

“…Figure 8. Images of SSE 3D printed (A) prednisolone-loaded films[220] and (B) theophylline chewable tablets[221], in different sizes. All images were reprinted with permission from their original sources.…”