*Article* **Multivariate Design of 3D Printed Immediate-Release Tablets with Liquid Crystal-Forming Drug—Itraconazole**

**Witold Jamróz 1,\*, Jolanta Pyteraf 1, Mateusz Kurek 1,\*, Justyna Knapik-Kowalczuk 2,3, Joanna Szafraniec-Szcz ˛esny 1, Karolina Jurkiewicz 2,3, Bartosz Leszczy ´nski 4, Andrzej Wróbel 4, Marian Paluch 2,3 and Renata Jachowicz 1**



Received: 8 October 2020; Accepted: 2 November 2020; Published: 4 November 2020

**Abstract:** The simplicity of object shape and composition modification make additive manufacturing a grea<sup>t</sup> option for customized dosage form production. To achieve this goal, the correlation between structural and functional attributes of the printed objects needs to be analyzed. So far, it has not been deeply investigated in 3D printing-related papers. The aim of our study was to modify the functionalities of printed tablets containing liquid crystal-forming drug itraconazole by introducing polyvinylpyrrolidone-based polymers into the filament-forming matrices composed predominantly of poly(vinyl alcohol). The e ffect of the molecular reorganization of the drug and improved tablets' disintegration was analyzed in terms of itraconazole dissolution. Micro-computed tomography was applied to analyze how the design of a printed object (in this case, a degree of an infill) a ffects its reproducibility during printing. It was also used to analyze the structure of the printed dosage forms. The results indicated that the improved disintegration obtained due to the use of Kollidon ®CL-M was more beneficial for the dissolution of itraconazole than the molecular rearrangemen<sup>t</sup> and liquid crystal phase transitions. The lower infill density favored faster dissolution of the drug from printed tablets. However, it negatively a ffected the reproducibility of the 3D printed object.

**Keywords:** 3D printing; fused deposition modeling; hot-melt extrusion; solid dosage forms; itraconazole
