Amorphous solid

Engineering

Friability

Fabrication

Biomedical engineering

Materials science

Differential scanning calorimetry

Ethyl cellulose

3D printing

Chemical engineering

Bioavailability

Dissolution

Polymer

Alternative medicine

Thermodynamics

Physics

Organic chemistry

Pharmacology

Composite material

Medicine

Chemistry

Fused deposition modeling

Dosage form

Pathology

European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics

Fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) achieve optimal goals for treatment with minimal side effects, decreased administration of large number of tablets, thus, greater convenience, and improved patient compliance. However, conventional FDCs do not have a guaranteed place in the future of patient-centered drug development because of the difficulty in achieving dose titration of each drug for individualized specific health needs and desired therapeutic outcomes. In the current study, FDCs of two antihypertensive drugs were fabricated with two distinct compartments using fused deposition modeling three-dimensional printing (FDM-3DP). Atorvastatin calcium and Amlodipine besylate loaded filaments were prepared by hot-melt extrusion. Shell-core FDC tablets were designed to have different infills for individualized dosing. Differential scanning calorimetry and powder X-ray diffraction revealed that both drugs were transformed into amorphous forms within the polymeric carriers. The fabricated tablets met the United States Pharmacopeia acceptance criteria for friability, content uniformity, and dissolution testing. The fabricated tablets were stable at room temperature with respect to drug content and thermal behavior over six months. This dynamic dosage form provides flexibility in dose titration and maintains the advantages of FDCs, thus achieving optimal therapeutic outcomes in different healthcare facilities.

Fabrication of a shell-core fixed-dose combination tablet using fused deposition modeling 3D printing