3D printed implants for long-acting drug delivery

3D-printed implantable drug delivery systems (DDSs) are a class of novel therapeutic approaches with promising characteristics for developing personalised therapies. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of long-acting implantable drug release scaffolds provide significant potential in reducing treatment limitations, like patient compliance, therapeutic threshold, drug bioavailability, and side effects. The manufacturing process of 3D-printed implants involves an initial selection of materials, techniques, and a rational formulation process design. Physico-chemical characteristics of materials, material compatibility, and manufacturing techniques are critical in developing diverse and multifunctional scaffolds defined by a long-acting drug release rate. In this chapter, an overview in manufacturing techniques, DDSs classification, critical design parameters, and prospects of 3D-printed implantable DDSs is given.