Spiritam (Levetiracetam) world's first 3D printed drug gets FDA approval

SPRITAM (levetiracetam) has been approved in the form of a dissolvable pill for the treatment of seizures among people with epilepsy.

Each year, around 150,000 people in the US are diagnosed with epilepsy. Of the 2.9 million people living with the condition, around 460,000 are children.A 2002 study published in the journal Epilepsy and Behavior found that 71% of epilepsy patients reported forgetting, missing or skipping a dose of anti-seizure medication at some point. Almost half of these patients reported having a seizure after their missed dose.

The team at Aprecia Pharmaceuticals used their ZipDose Technology to develop SPRITAM - a technique that was originally created by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

This technology allows the drug to be layered and tightly packed into a single pill, which dissolves instantly with just one sip of liquid, making the medication much easier to administer.

Another advantage of the drug being created in this way is that up to 1,000 mg of the medication can be loaded into one dose. In addition, the layering technology allows drug doses to be closely controlled and tailored to the need of each individual patient.

It is hoped that the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of SPRITAM will improve medication adherence among epilepsy patients, and its creators believe it may open the door to the development of new drugs for the treatment of other neurological disorders. Aprecia say SPRITAM will be available from early next year.

http://www.spritam.com/