Goh Wei Jiang, Lim Seng Han and Lim Seng Han are pharmacists who have seen a common problem among elderly patients. An overwhelming number of medications are being prescribed for multiple diagnoses – mainly diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.
After each visit, these patients would be discharged from the hospital or nearby polyclinic with bags of pills and a complex regimen to follow. This often caused confusion and made mistakes.
The duo didn’t stop at observing the problem. They decided to go beyond academic publishing and solve the problem during their final PhD studies at the National University of Singapore.
Seng Han’s expertise in 3D printing sparked an idea: Could they combine the active ingredients of various medications and put them altogether in a single pill?
The couple later received a small grant for research to prove that their theory actually works.
They enrolled in the NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme, a three-month structured curriculum that leads participants through a startup journey.
“Essentially, GRIP is like an incubator,” explained Wei Jiang. “We were the first cohort of participants when it was launched in 2018. It gave us ample opportunities to speak with many stakeholders – hospital administrators, doctors, clinicians, pharmacists, patients, among others.”
“After weighing all the evidence, we concluded that both the demand for better medication management and solution (3D printing medicine) are real, and thus, Craft Health was born.”
There are many obstacles to making a new technology successful
Craft Health is poised to revolutionize pharmaceutical care.
Although promising, Wei Jiang acknowledged that it was difficult to attract investors at the beginning. Many people were still unfamiliar with 3D printing in 2019.
“Most of the time, it’s just Seng Han and I with our laptops. We didn’t have much to show and convince people. So, they were sceptical about what we could offer,” he added.
Investors were enthusiastic about Craft Health’s 3D printing of medicines and nutraceuticals in Singapore and Southeast Asia. However, the cautious ones wanted to know if 3D printed medicine is something that had been done before so they could pattern match Craft Health’s success rate.
Ironically, out of the 80 potential investors Wei Jiang spoke to, only one was willing take a leap in faith for their company. Just when they thought things were moving in the right direction the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
At the beginning, there was a lot of naivety. We believed that 3D printing technology was the only problem. Turns out, this is only the beginning.
– Goh Wei Jiang is co-founder of Craft Health
Seng Han and Wei Jiang quickly discovered that there are more challenges in managing the logistics for mass production of 3D printed medicines. They also need to educate potential clients about the key benefits of 3D printing and ensure Craft Health delivers all its promises safely and efficiently.
But Craft Health’s secret weapon lies in the chain of workflow that they had developed to support the entire 3D printing drug delivery process.
All-in-one shop for 3D printed medicines and supplements
It all starts with the 3D printers.Make). These hardwares can be used to 3D print at room temperature and pressure without heat or UV light.
This allows for different active ingredients to be combined in one pill. Craft is included as an accompaniment.Control The software that instructs 3D printers to print medications in the right way.
Craft Health can customize the active ingredients and profile of medications for specific patient needs. As such, CraftBlends is the “recipe book” that carefully cooks up different formulations.
Craft also generates or uses information.MakeCraftControlCraftBlends CraftDatabase. This archive system – one of the first in the world – allows Wei Jiang and Seng Han to better understand the interplay of various materials and factors, so they can 3D print more specialised or even personalised medicines.
Some active ingredients can give medicines an unpleasant taste. Craft Health can 3D print a multi-layer or encapsulated pill to disguise the unpleasant taste. You can modify the outer layer of multi-layer pills to protect the stomach acid and allow the intestine to release the embedded contents for better absorption.
Craft Health is also expanding its nutraceutical arm.
CraftBeads 3D printed granules are available to provide a customized approach to supplementation. Craft is a better alternative to buying vitamins from the shelf and eating them one at a time.Beads can mix and match to create custom blends based on individuals’ supplementary needs.
Craft, on the other handDelights It is a side project 3D printed gummy that was initially intended to be a sweet solution for paediatric patients but quickly gained popularity with adults.
We can also incorporate probiotics into these gummies because they are 3D printed without the use of heat or UV light. It also allows for different shape, sizes, geometry, and tastes. That’s probably why people are excited about it, as they can see very highly personalised gummies being made.
– Goh Wei Jiang is co-founder of Craft Health
The regulatory hurdle for 3D printing medicines
There is currently no regulatory framework for 3D printed medicines in Singapore and around the world.
It is unclear how drug approvals are made in general. Health authorities approve medication in specific dosages. Any changes in active ingredients or dosage require a new consent.
In the case of 3D printing medications when the combination of active ingredients and dosage becomes limitless, it’s impossible to officially register and green light every mix. Craft Health plans to overcome this hurdle by using the compounding route.
According to Wei Jiang, compounding is a pharmaceutical practice that’s not very common in Singapore.
Patients can ask for certain ingredients to be removed or added to a medication they take due to allergies or other medical reasons. In that case, pharmacists will have to specially “compound” the drugs for the patients.
Craft Health plans to conduct a small clinical trial with a local hospital at the beginning of next year. They want to prove that it’s just as efficacious for patients to take a 3D printed pill containing active ingredients from three different types of medications versus taking them separately.
“It’s a very low bar for us to cross,” Wei Jiang said confidently. “But our rationale is to provide some preliminary evidence to the doctors that our products are safe and effective.”
Craft Health hopes to create a 3D printing medicine menu that doctors can simply prescribe from.
Take a less traveled road
While it may still be years before Craft Health, and probably the whole 3D printing medication industry, arrives at their ultimate goals, the founders are glad it’s emerging as a pioneering and dominant player in the field.
“Establishing Craft Health as a deeptech spinoff from NUS is already a huge advantage. This shows that our technology is being supported by a trusted institution. There are some validations that this is doable,” noted Wei Jiang.
Wei Jiang acknowledged that as exciting as it may sound, being an entrepreneur also means being exposed to many unknowns that he would have not faced while working as pharmacist.
Entrepreneurship means that you have to do everything at once. You have to do everything, even fix your air conditioner in the office.
– Goh Wei Jiang is co-founder of Craft Health
Whether it’s the 3D printing technology itself, or the operation, business, and legal side of things, Wei Jiang and Seng Han had learnt a lot in the past four years, and they learnt them fast despite the steeo growth curve.
The 3D printing of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products holds incredible potential, just like the endless number of prescription permutations 3D-printed medications and supplements can offer. We don’t have much time to get overwhelmed by the rapid pace of technology development.
Credit to National University of Singapore for the featured image