Combination therapy for blood pressure, with doses that can still be adjusted.
Flexipill is a 3D printed flexible dose combination that joins three antihypertensive units, each with its own release profile, into one pill. It is built for patients who need more than one blood pressure medicine and for clinicians who still want to titrate each dose.
Polypills help adherence but lock the dose
Hypertension affects approximately one in three adults, and many need more than one medicine from the start.
More pills, more burden
Starting treatment with several antihypertensive agents adds to polypharmacy, especially for older patients.
Fixed doses, fixed limits
Fixed-dose combinations improve adherence, but they limit dose titration and personalisation.
Printing at every pharmacy is hard
Point-of-care 3D printing would ask each pharmacy to run and quality-control its own printer.
Print centrally, assemble at the point of care
Flexipill units are printed in a quality-controlled facility and assembled at the point of care, so pharmacies do not need to print anything.
Floating propranolol unit
- Printed as a floating element
- Designed to improve solubility and bioavailability
- Released over 90% of its drug content
Heat-aware enalapril unit
- Printed below the drug's degradation temperature
- Avoids thermal degradation during printing
- Kept as a separate, swappable unit
Fast hydrochlorothiazide unit
- Formulated for immediate release
- Acts as the fast component of the combination
- Dose can be chosen independently
How a Flexipill comes together
The design separates manufacturing from personalisation.
- 1
Print the units
Each drug is printed as its own unit by fused deposition modelling in a quality-controlled facility.
FDMQuality control - 2
Tune each release
Each unit gets its own profile: floating, heat-protected or immediate release.
FloatingImmediate release - 3
Choose the combination
The prescriber selects which units and doses the patient needs.
Flexible doseTitration - 4
Assemble at point of care
The units are assembled into one Flexipill, with no printer needed on site.
PharmacyOne pill
What the laboratory study showed
In vitro characterisation of a printed three-unit antihypertensive Flexipill.
| Unit | Design goal | Reported result |
|---|---|---|
| Propranolol HCl | Floating, better solubility and bioavailability | Floated for 9 h, released over 90% |
| Enalapril maleate | Avoid thermal degradation | Printed at 150 °C, below its degradation point |
| Hydrochlorothiazide | Immediate release | Over 90% released within the first hour |
Source: Karkar et al., European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 212, 114736 (2025). doi:10.1016/j.ejpb.2025.114736
Who Flexipill is for
A platform for combination therapy that stays personal.
Patients
- One pill instead of several
- Doses matched to their own needs
- Helpful where polypharmacy is a burden
Clinicians and pharmacists
- Titrate one drug without changing the others
- No in-house 3D printer required
- Assembly at the point of care
Pharmaceutical partners
- Central, quality-controlled printing
- Modular units for other combinations
- Release profiles set per unit
Where the evidence stands
Flexipill is an early-stage concept with laboratory data only.
In vitro only
Results come from laboratory release and floating tests, not from patients.
No clinical data yet
Blood pressure control, safety and adherence benefits have not been studied in people.
Scale-up ahead
Central printing and point-of-care assembly still need regulatory and manufacturing validation.
The team
Founded in 2025 by the research team behind the Flexipill antihypertensive study.
Yasir Karkar
Co-author of the Flexipill Hypertension research.
Tanzeela Anis
Co-author of the Flexipill Hypertension research.
Amal Ali Elkordy
Co-author of the Flexipill Hypertension research.
Ahmed Mostafa Faheem
Co-author of the Flexipill Hypertension research.
Frequently asked questions
What is a flexible dose combination?
It is a single pill made of separate drug units, so each dose can be chosen for the patient instead of being fixed at manufacture.
Which drugs are in the hypertension Flexipill?
Propranolol HCl, enalapril maleate and hydrochlorothiazide, each printed as its own unit.
Why does one unit float?
The propranolol unit was printed as a floating element to improve solubility and bioavailability. It floated for 9 hours in testing.
Does a pharmacy need a 3D printer?
No. Units are printed in a quality-controlled facility and only assembled at the point of care.
Is Flexipill available for patients?
No. It is at the laboratory research stage and has not been tested in clinical trials.
Peer-reviewed science behind Flexipill Hypertension.
Read the full study behind the product.
Karkar, Y., Anis, T., Elkordy, A. A., & Faheem, A. M. (2025). Flexipill: A novel 3D printed flexible dose combination for hypertension with a floating element. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 212, 114736.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2025.114736