A new anti-seizure medication has become the first-ever 3D-printed medication to gain FDA approval. The FDA has been pulled along into the future in recent years as prosthetics and other medical devices have been pumped out of 3D printers, but never before has the technology proven so integral to the production of a pill. This form of the drug, called Spritam, wouldn’t work with conventional production methods.

Traditional 3D printing with plastics is done by heating a polymer, then applying it layer by layer to build an object. The 3D printing technology (called ZipDose) developed by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals isn’t much different. Each pill is built layer-by-layer to form a porous material with a precisely tuned dose of the medication. Take a sip of water, and the pill dissolves, delivering up to 1000 mg of the active ingredient.

Spritam (levetiracetam) is not actually a new molecule. The innovation here is not that Aprecia Pharmaceuticals has found a new treatment for seizure disorders, but that it has a more effective delivery model. Levetiracetam in traditional pill form is already sold under a variety of names and is available as a generic prescription in both the US and UK.

Aprecia Pharmaceuticals sees Spritam as just the first step into the world of 3D printing pills. Spritam is a single active ingredient, but 3D printing could make it possible for medications to be custom made for patients, even if they require high dosages. Rather than taking multiple different pills with a few hundred milligrams of active ingredients, the pharmacy of the future could simply 3D print a single pill that has all those drugs in a single dose.

Assuming such a system could be developed with proper safety measures to prevent contamination, that could vastly reduce patient error when taking medications. Doctors would also have the option of adjusting doses as they like, rather than relying on drug makers to provide a pill in one dose or another. This sort of customization would have been prohibitively expensive prior to 3D printing technology.

Aprecia Pharmaceuticals expects to begin selling Spritam in the US sometime in early 2016. The company hasn’t announced any specific plans for future 3D printed medications, but you can bet they and others are looking into it. If I’m being cynical, I’d point out this seems like a great way to tweak a non-patented drug with proprietary technology and sell it for a higher price. Otherwise, hey, better medical technology thanks to 3D printing is good for everyone.