This Startup Wants to 3D Print One Pill With All Your Prescriptions

Thanks to robotics and 3D printing tech, we could finally say goodbye to having to swallow multiple pills.

Personalized Pills

Personalized pharmaceutical products company Multiply Labs envisions a future in which patients can finally say goodbye to swallowing a cocktail of different pills organized in a plastic divider case.

The startup's promise: a single, 3D-printed "daily capsule tailored around the needs of each patient," according to a Medium post by CEO Fred Parietti.

The necessity of taking multiple pills can make following prescriptions very difficult. Oftentimes, the exact dosage of a certain drug simply doesn't exist — doctors are often forced to prescribe two pills. In other cases, a smaller dose than a single pill is simply not available.

Multiply Labs' specially manufactured pill contains several compartments, one for each prescribed drug. By varying the thickness of the compartments' walls, the pill can release and dissolve drugs at exactly the right time.

3D Pilling

3D printing could allow mass manufacturing of these pills.

"Multiply Labs’ robotic factory is extremely efficient in forming and filling each patient’s capsules on-demand — an order is completed within minutes," Parietti wrote.

The company is taking the idea to two leading pharma manufacturing conferences this year, one of which will be hosted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

READ MORE: How we 3D print your whole prescription into one pill [Medium]

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