Refrigerator-Sized Machine Can Print Pills on Demand (dailymail.co.uk)

MIT Researchers have created a new "Pharmacy on Demand" prototype that can produce 1,000 doses of medication every 24 hours. Their new system "can be easily transported in case of outbreaks, supply shortage or if a manufacturing plant shuts down," notes the Daily Mail, and the on-demand technology can address many of the challenges in supplying medications, for example regions without facilities for storing pills. "The dosages don't have to have long-term stability," says the head of MIT's Chemistry department. "People line up, you make it, and they take it." The DARPA-funded researchers produced Valium, Prozac, Benadryl, and lidocaine, and demonstrated that "Within a few hours we could change from one compound to the other." The machine can also switch to a different drug type within a few hours, making it economical to produce drugs needed by only a small number of patients.

Comments

Re:Just curious

[damn_registrars]

What kind of "outbreak" would require any of those medications: Valium, Prozac, Benadryl, and Lidocaine ???

I predict Cleveland Ohio will see such an outbreak this July. We may see one on a national level in November as well.