In pharmaceutical manufacturing, tablets have long been produced through standardized processes that leave little room for fine-tuning how a drug behaves once ingested. Chinese pharmaceutical technology company Triastek is challenging that model. By applying 3D printing to drug product development and manufacturing, the company is introducing a more controlled and predictable way to engineer oral medications.
But if the technology is so promising, why aren’t major pharmaceutical companies already using it at scale? That question guided my conversation with Triastek’s Co-founder and CSO, Professor Xiaoling Li—who argues that adoption has less to do with limitations in the technology and more to do with industry readiness.
The Technology Is Ready—But the Industry Isn’t
Li frames 3D printing not just as a new tool, but as an entirely new way to make drugs. “This is more than a new manufacturing method,” he said. “It’s a platform for designing the next generation of pharmaceutical production. When you can control drug release with this level of precision, you expand what’s possible in treatment.”
Triastek begins by using digital modeling to design tablet structures that control how a drug is released. The company draws from a library of more than a thousand possible internal architectures and runs simulations to predict each structure’s performance. “Our process is like assembling Lego blocks,” Li explained. “Different components can be combined to control drug release—immediate or extended—and simulations help determine the best ratio and structure.”
Once the design is finalized, it moves seamlessly into Triastek’s production line, which is organized into three coordinated zones: material preparation, printing, and packaging—all managed from a central control room. During material preparation, real-time process analytical technology (PAT) confirms blend uniformity, and verified material is then transferred to the printer by a mobile robot system.
During printing, powder material is fed into a twin screw, heated, and extruded in molten form. The tablet is built layer by layer as the platform moves in three dimensions. This process enables multimaterial printing, allowing different regions of the same tablet to behave differently inside the body. In the final stage, optical inspection systems evaluate each tablet’s shape, dimensions, and surface characteristics. “If it doesn’t meet the requirement, it’s rejected. Only those that pass all quality checks are packaged as finished products,” Li said.
One clear example of this precision is the D23 tablet, engineered to release medication at a specific area in the gastrointestinal tract. “We place the active ingredient in the center and design the structure so it reaches the target location before releasing the drug,” Li said. This level of control demonstrates why 3D printing can enable treatments that conventional methods simply cannot.
So Why Isn’t Big Pharma Using It?
Despite the platform’s precision and capability, Li acknowledges that the biggest hurdle is adoption itself. “The biggest challenge is convincing people that we can achieve the same production scale as conventional manufacturing. The technology works, but large-scale adoption takes time,” he said.
Many industry decision-makers assume 3D printing is slow—printing tablets individually—because they compare it to high-speed presses. Education is crucial. “Once we explain the full process and how it integrates automation and continuous production, the picture becomes much clearer,” Li said.
Conventional rotary presses, such as manufacturer Fette Compacting’s Fette 2080i, can produce over 200,000 tablets per hour. While Triastek does not disclose exact output, Li emphasizes that their line operates as a continuous system rather than printing tablets individually. “As long as we keep feeding materials, the product keeps coming out,” he explained. “It’s entirely automated — all robots, no human operators. I don’t pay people; I invest in machines.”
The only FDA-approved 3D printed drug, Aprecia’s Spritam, was cleared in 2015, yet it did not trigger a wave of similar approvals, underscoring how slowly the sector moves.
Cost Isn’t the Issue
Li argues that price is not preventing adoption. “If we exclude the API costs, the cost of producing a coated tablet through conventional methods is about six U.S. cents. For us, it’s roughly the same,” he said. “So cost is not the issue — the real challenge lies in scaling and investment. Over time, automation offsets those costs because we don’t need human labor for manufacturing.”
In other words, big companies aren’t avoiding 3D printing because of cost—they’re cautious because adopting an entirely new manufacturing approach is slow, risky, and capital-intensive. Additional hurdles include ambiguous regulatory pathways for continuous additive manufacturing, the extensive CMC validation needed to ensure consistent product quality, and the industry’s strong preference for established, low-risk production platforms.
Partnerships Show the Tide Is Turning
Despite hesitation, major players are beginning to collaborate.“Among the top10 global pharma companies, we’re already partnering with at least five or six,” Li shared.
Triastek’s pipeline follows the 505(b)(2) pathway, applying the technology to existing drugs nearing patent expiration—demonstrating how 3D printing can enhance established products. Patient benefit remains their priority. “Our first priority is ensuring that any product we introduce truly benefits patients,” said Li. “Commercialization follows.”
One of Triastek’s most significant partnerships is with BioNTech, focused on enabling oral delivery of mRNA therapeutics. RNA is highly unstable in the gastrointestinal tract, which is why most RNA therapies must be injected. Combining BioNTech’s RNA expertise with Triastek’s 3D printing, the collaboration is developing the first oral RNA pills, using the 3DμS-OR platform to protect mRNA and release it where absorption is optimal.
“It’s a very exciting project,” Li said. “If we can deliver mRNA orally, it would represent a major breakthrough. The deal is valued at $1.2 billion, with $10 million already received upfront, and we’re progressing through key milestones.”
As with most biopharma partnerships, the $1.2 billion figure represents a milestone-based framework rather than guaranteed revenue, and the collaboration remains in early-stage R&D.
Looking Ahead: Adoption Will Happen, But Gradually
Triastek plans to continue integrating advanced modeling, 3D printing, and automated process control to support versatile drug product production. Li expects that as familiarity increases, companies will recognize that 3D printing isn’t a novelty—it’s a fundamental improvement.
“Our vision is to make this future a reality,” Li said. “By combining digital design with advanced manufacturing, we aim to transform how medicines are made and how patients experience treatment.”
For now, the question is no longer whether big pharmaceutical companies will adopt 3D printing—Triastek’s growing list of partnerships shows they already are. The real question is how long it will take for the rest of the industry to catch up.
3D Printing Is Taking Off in Pharma
Triastek’s progress is part of a wider trend. Across the globe, researchers and startups are exploring 3D printing to accelerate production and create more customized drug formulations.
Researchers from the MERLN Institute, University of Santiago de Compostela, University College London (UCL), and the UCL spin-out FabRx developed a method to 3D print tablets in seven seconds. Unlike traditional layer-by-layer photopolymerization, this team used a volumetric 3D printing technique that cures entire vats of resin in a single run, speeding up the production of customized medications.
Elsewhere, a team from the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Saarbrücken, Germany, and the University of California at Davis developed 3D printed pills that can release drugs at controlled speeds. The team showed how the pills’ shapes can be printed to control the dissolution rate in the body, offering new possibilities for drug delivery.
Even large-scale initiatives are underway: private, nonprofit science and technology organization Battelle and 3D pharmaceutical company Aprecia have received a U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) agreement to advance the Establishing Qualification Processes for Agile Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (EQUIP-A-Pharma) research program, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Office of Industrial Base Management and Supply Chain (IBMSC). The EQUIP-A-Pharma program will explore how Battelle’s custom small-scale chemical synthesis platform, combined with Aprecia’s Z-Form Flex 3D printing technology, can accelerate U.S. drug production to provide high-quality, sustainable medications.
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Featured image shows Triastek pills demonstration. Photo via Triastek.
