The type of starch utilised and the tablet shape may be modified to alter drug release, demonstrating the potential of 3D printing for individualised drug administration.

Different kinds of starch-based medicinal tablets have been successfully created using 3D printing by researchers at the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country in Spain.

“Starch-based medicinal tablets have been successfully created using 3D printing.“

The study's objective was to create starch-based 3D printed tablets for the specialised administration of hydrophobic medications. The report highlights that sixty per cent of medication candidates in research and forty per cent of commercially available pharmaceuticals are hydrophobic drugs or chemicals that are weakly water-soluble.

According to researchers, starch is a common excipient in the pharmaceutical sector. They did, however, speculate that utilising starches with various botanical origins might result in multiple drug release kinetics.

The author of the study, Kizkitza González, has stated, "We were able to prepare tablets based on three types of starch – two types of maise starch (normal and waxy) and one type of potato starch – with different geometries and loaded with a non-soluble drug."

González emphasised that this is simply the beginning of a lengthy process, but she nonetheless believes that "the starch-based 3D printed tablets they produced displayed promising properties for future personalised drug delivery applications."