Integrated Drug Delivery Systems Based on Electrospinning and Non-Contact Laser Cutting

Problem we address:

The majority of new active pharmaceutical ingredients fall into BCS classes II/IV (low solubility and/or permeability), which complicates the development of effective dosage forms. A platform is needed that simultaneously enhances dissolution, enables high drug loading, and offers flexible dose design.

An integrated electrospinning methodology has been developed that enables the encapsulation of poorly soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients into polymer micro- and nanocapsules, linked by nanofibers (beads-on-string morphology) and organized into a continuous network. The resulting network is then digitally, contactlessly, and precisely cut with a laser beam into unit doses (films, wafers, inserts) suitable for oral, buccal, or dermal administration. Matrix properties govern the drug release rate, while the microcapsule composition defines the dose and additionally stabilizes sensitive molecules. We place special emphasis on morphology control via process parameters: fine adjustment of voltage, flow rate, solution viscosity and conductivity, solvent fraction, relative humidity, needle–collector distance, and collector speed precisely determines fiber diameter, bead size and frequency, and network porosity. This directly tunes hydration, capillary imbibition, and release profiles, ensures batch-to-batch reproducibility, and facilitates scale-up, while preserving microstructure during laser cutting. The contactless cutting method provides flexibility in dose design, which underpins personalized medicine.