A group of people from Córdoba aims to personalize medical treatments according to each patient’s needs. The story of a company printing 3D medications.
PILL.AR, founded by Enzo Moriconi, Juan Pablo Real, Daniel Real, and Santiago Daniel Palma, is a Córdoba-based startup that is transforming medical treatments by personalizing them according to each patient’s needs. This approach aims to improve the lives of those with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and migraines, as well as rare/orphan diseases like ALS.
With this visionary approach, the company seeks to democratize access to personalized medications and revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry. But how does it accomplish this? Through a technology platform with three developments:
– Software: interprets the doctor’s prescription, determining what needs to be printed.
– Equipment: produces the pills.
– Inks: these are the medications in a semi-solid format, each drug represented by a different ink.
This process allows for decentralized, automated, and personalized medication production without solvents and with lower production temperatures. PILL.AR’s technology addresses issues such as excessive medication use among poly-medicated patients (over 50% of those over 70) and treatment for globally underserved diseases (over 8,000).
It’s estimated that more than 3 million people in Argentina have rare or orphan diseases, with 23% receiving inappropriate treatment. Pharmacological treatments are not personalized to each patient, creating unmet medical needs. This underscores PILL.AR’s importance for Córdoba, Argentina, and beyond.
After years of dedication to personalized medicine, Real and Palma, pharmacists and researchers at UNC and Conicet, decided to expand their work by forming PILL.AR with Moriconi and Daniel Real.
In an exclusive interview with Puntal, Moriconi, the Co-Founder & CEO of PILL.AR, highlighted the company’s mission to improve the quality of life for many people, how it all started, and their focus on cost optimization.
What does PILL.AR do?
PILL.AR is dedicated to personalizing treatments through the production of medicines, vitamins, and ultra-septics. We do this through 3D printing.
Our technology platform has three core components: 3D printers, inks, and software. We can say that we improve people’s quality of life through personalized medication. Currently, we have a prototype capable of printing up to two drugs simultaneously, and we are scaling this prototype to produce five drugs at once.
How did it all begin? What pain point did you identify in society that led to this startup’s creation?
PILL.AR was born from the research of two pharmacists and PhDs in chemical sciences, Juan Pablo Real and Santiago Real.
The pain point they identified was related to the challenges faced by compounding pharmacists. This issue was the manual process of producing compounded medications, which is done in pharmacies in a very basic, non-automated way. Additionally, there’s a growing trend of polypharmacy and the need to adjust doses for each patient, especially elderly patients who take more than five medications daily. This technology allows them to take all their medications in a single pill.
When did PILL.AR officially start?
PILL.AR officially started on July 19, 2023, following a decision to scale this project. Initially, it was an MVP with 3D printing technology patented under a different name. They realized they had an opportunity to turn this research project into a company. After conversations with various investment funds, the suggestion came up to expand the team, which is when Enzo Moriconi and Daniel Real joined.
In February, the four of us involved in the project met and decided to build the company with investment backing. Finally, in June, we were informed that we had secured funding, and that’s when we formally launched as a company.
What were your goals with the investment you received?
Our goals were to validate and develop a new MVP of the printers. We wanted something faster with greater production capacity. Additionally, we aimed to create new inks, achieve third-party validation in a real environment, and file the patent for our startup in the U.S.
Do you believe PILL.AR reduces costs?
Yes, in terms of logistical costs, as there’s savings from no longer needing to produce batches of blister packs, concentrating the drug in the same pill and pharmacy. Also, there’s less waste, as we only print what each patient needs.
Are pharmacies and hospitals on board with these technologies? What feedback have you received from them?
We work with clinics, hospitals, and laboratories. We sense a lot of interest, especially in treatments where personalization and deprescription are critical. The withdrawal of medication is often a very complex process.
What is your long-term goal, and how do you think you contribute to Córdoba?
In the long term, we envision ourselves as the company that personalizes therapy and medications worldwide—we aim to be the solution to this problem. We believe we contribute to our city by developing this project in Córdoba. We want it to be validated here and then expand to other countries. We want to tell the world that those who believed in PILL.AR’s technology are from Córdoba.
