Dive Brief:
- The first FDA approved 3-D printed prescription drug is now available on the U.S. market, Aprecia Pharmaceuticals announced Tuesday.
- SPRITAM, approved by the FDA in 2015, treats partial onset seizures, myoclonic seizures, and primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures and can disintegrates in the patient's mouth.
- SPRITAM is now available in four unit-dose strengths - 250 mg, 500 mg, 750 mg, and 1,000 mg.
Dive Insight:
“As we explored potential applications for our 3D printing technology in prescription drug products, it was important that we identified disease areas with a real need for patient-friendly forms of medication,” Aprecia CEO Don Wetherhold said in a prepared statement.
According to the CDC, about 2.4 million people were living with active epilepsy in 2013 - about 1% of adults 18 years or older.
In January, Aprecia completed a fundraising round led by Deerfield Management Co. with $35 million, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.
Just last month, a team of researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine devised a way to 3-D print human-scale bone, muscle, and cartilage, Healthcare Dive previously reported.