Advancing medication compounding: use of a pharmaceutical 3D printer to auto-fill minoxidil capsules for dispensing to patients in a community pharmacy

Compounding medications in pharmacies is a common practice for patients with prescriptions that are not available commercially, but it is a laborious and error-prone task. The incorporation of emerging technologies to prepare personalised medication, such as 3D printing, has been delayed in smaller pharmacies due to concerns about potential workflow disruptions and learning curves associated with novel technologies. This study examines the use in a community pharmacy of a pharmaceutical 3D printer to auto-fill capsules and blisters using semisolid extrusion, incorporating an integrated quality control system. This retains the customisation and automation advantages of 3D printing, speeding up the manufacturing process while increasing familiarity for pharmacists. Minoxidil capsules (2.5 mg and 5 mg doses) were prepared using a pharmaceutical 3D printer and dispensed to 9 patients in a community compounding pharmacy setting in Spain. This innovative production method was compared to the conventional manual capsule filling. All capsules met the European Pharmacopeia standards for mass uniformity, drug content and dissolution, and demonstrated stability at 25 °C and 65 % relative humidity for three months, matching the typical treatment duration. The 3D printer offers greater precision and efficiency and reduced operator involvement by more than half compared to manual capsule filling, making the process faster and more cost-effective. This study offers for the first time a clear roadmap for implementing a pharmaceutical 3D printer in a community pharmacy for automated compounding to prepare reliable and precise personalised medication for patients, marking a valuable step forward in precision medicine.