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.
After completing their respective theses, the students enrolled into the NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme. This three-month structured curriculum guides participants through a startup.
“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.
Wei Jiang acknowledged the potential of 3D printing, but admitted that it was difficult to attract investors in its early stages. In 2019, 3D printing was still an unfamiliar concept for many.
“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.
The irony is that out of all the potential investors Wei Jiang & Seng Han talked to, only one was willing and able to make a leap of faith in 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. It was our belief that 3D printing technology is the only problem. This is just 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.
One-stop shop for 3D printing medicine and supplements
It starts with 3D printers (Craft).Make). These hardwares can be used to 3D print at room temperature and pressure without heat or UV light.
This protects active ingredients within each drug and allows for multiple active ingredients and dosing combinations 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.
Certain active ingredients, for example, can make medications unpleasant tasting. Craft Health can help by 3D printing multi-layer pills or a capsule that encapsulates another to mask the taste. The outer layer of the multilayer pill can also be customized to protect against acidic stomach contents and allow for the release of intestine content.
Craft Health is also expanding its nutraceutical arm.
CraftBeads There are 3D-printed granules available that can be customized for supplementation. Craft offers a unique alternative to purchasing vitamins on the shelves and then eating them all one by one.Beads can mix and match to create custom blends based on individuals’ supplementary needs.
Craft on the other sideDelights 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.
Because these gummies are 3D printed, there is no need to heat or use UV light. This means that we can add probiotics. It also allows for different shapes, sizes and flavors. 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 to 3D printing medicines
Currently, there is no regulatory framework in place for 3D-printed medicines in Singapore or worldwide.
There is much uncertainty about how drugs are approved. Most often, health authorities will approve a particular brand of medication when it comes in a certain dose. For any changes in active ingredients, dosage or other matters, a new consent must be obtained.
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.
Some countries allow patients to request that certain ingredients be removed from medication they’re taking because of allergies. In that case, pharmacists will have to specially “compound” the drugs for the patients.
Craft Health will conduct a small clinical study with a public hospital at the end this 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 plans to eventually develop a list of 3D-printed medicines that doctors can use to prescribe the appropriate medicine.
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.
It’s exciting, Wei Jiang admitted that being an entrepreneur is not as thrilling as it sounds. However, he also acknowledged that being an entrepreneur can expose him to many uncertainties that he wouldn’t have experienced while working as a pharmacist.
Being an entrepreneur can mean that everything is at your fingertips 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.
As with the amazing array of prescription combinations that 3D printing can offer, the 3D printing technology holds a seemingly limitless potential for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical sectors. 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