How SPID works

SPID® builds tablets layer by layer by printing drug-containing pastes through a screen

In SPID® 3D screen printing, a squeegee presses a water-based paste containing the active ingredient through a fine screen onto a plate. Each printed layer is dried, the screen is raised by one layer height, and the cycle repeats until the tablet reaches its final height. Hundreds of tablets are printed side by side in every cycle, and every layer can use a different screen and a different paste.

Interactive 3D model of the SPID® printing cycleA process view in which tablets are printed layer by layer, and a schematic production line with four print cells, dryers and circulating print carriers.

Interactive model of the SPID® printing cycle. The squeegee floods the screen with paste, prints one layer, the layer dries, and the screen rises by one layer height before the next print.Schematic model, not to scale; layers are shown greatly exaggerated.Freigabe prüfenAnlagen-Ansicht und Baugruppentexte stammen aus der bisherigen Technologieseite (Exentis-Angaben), nicht aus dem Inhaltsdokument

PlatzhalterStandbild des Modells mit Alt-Text als Fallback für Mobilgeräte

The process in seven steps

01
Formulate the paste. The active ingredient is combined with standard excipients – binders, fillers, humectants – and water into a printable paste.
02
Mix the paste. A vacuum planetary mixer produces a uniform paste without air bubbles.
03
Dose and flood. The paste is applied to the screen, and a squeegee spreads it evenly across the mesh.
04
Print. The squeegee pushes the paste through the open areas of the screen onto the substrate. The screen layout defines the shape and position of every tablet in that layer.
05
Dry. Each printed layer is dried by convection before the next one is applied.
06
Raise the screen. The screen is lifted by the height of one layer, and steps 3 to 6 repeat. Switching to another screen and paste starts a new compartment.
07
Finish. Tablets are released from the plate, inspected, optionally coated and packed under GMP conditions.

Why separate compartments matter

Because each layer can come from its own paste and its own screen, one tablet can contain several compartments with different active ingredients or different release behavior. Compartments are printed one after another with screen and paste changed in between, so they do not mix.

PlatzhalterSchnittbilder – Ein-Kompartiment-, Sandwich- (IR/ER/IR) und Tablet-in-Tablet-Aufbau

Compartment designs
Design	How it is built	What it enables
Single compartment	One paste, one screen	Immediate or extended release, any tablet shape
Layered (sandwich)	Different pastes stacked in layers	Combined immediate, delayed and extended release; two drugs released one after the other
Tablet-in-tablet	A core printed inside a surrounding shellFreigabe prüfennur in internen Präsentationen gezeigt	Protected or delayed core release

In a 2025 study, this approach released carbidopa before levodopa from the same tablet and increased levodopa bioavailability in pigs. Pharmaceutics, 2025

The same process from lab to production

SPID® scales by printing larger screens and running more printers, not by changing the process. Small batches for R&D and clinical studies are made the same way as commercial volumes. Clinical-scale cGMP printing is available at Adare Pharma Solutions in Pessano, Italy.Freigabe prüfenBezeichnungen der GMP-Drucker für Labor/Klinik und Produktion nennen?

PlatzhalterFoto oder Video der GMP-Druckanlage

Published evidence

First proof of concept: five tablet geometries printed in one run (International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2020)
Freely tailorable release profiles from combined pastes (International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2023)
Sequential release of two drugs from separate compartments (Pharmaceutics, 2025)

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