How Laxxon Medical is redefining oral drug delivery beyond molecule discovery

For decades, the pharmaceutical industry has largely focused on discovering new molecules. Laxxon Medical believes the next major innovation may instead come from rethinking how those medicines are delivered.

The company's chief executive, Helmut Kerschbaumer (pictured above), argues that advances in additive manufacturing have the potential to transform oral drug delivery, extending product life cycles, improving patient outcomes and opening new opportunities for pharmaceutical companies.

“We are a platform story, not a drug story,” Mr Kerschbaumer told The Pharma Letter. “The industry has been concentrating on new molecules for decades. Not many companies have really focused on optimizing how those active ingredients are delivered into the human body.”

From industrial printing to pharmaceuticals

Laxxon was acquired by its current management team in 2017, when its proprietary 3D printing technology was still primarily designed for manufacturing ceramics, metals and plastics. The challenge was to adapt the platform for pharmaceutical production under current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) conditions.

That milestone was reached in 2024, when the company's first pharmaceutical printer was installed in a cGMP facility operated by Italian contract manufacturer Adare Pharma Solutions.

“The goal from the beginning was to redesign pharmacokinetics and optimize drug delivery and bioavailability,” Mr Kerschbaumer said. “If we could successfully transfer this technology into pharmaceuticals, we believed it could become a game changer.”

Mr Kerschbaumer himself brings more than 25 years of experience across prescription medicines, over-the-counter products, food supplements, cosmetics, contract manufacturing and publicly listed biotech companies.

Two business models under one roof

Unlike many platform technology companies, Laxxon is pursuing a dual strategy. On one side, it collaborates with pharmaceutical companies to improve both marketed and pipeline medicines using its drug delivery technology. On the other, it is developing its own portfolio of reformulated medicines using established generic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

Rather than discovering entirely new compounds, the company seeks to address unmet medical needs by improving how existing medicines are absorbed and released.

Mr Kerschbaumer describes these products as “advanced patented generics” —reformulated medicines that combine established safety profiles with improved delivery characteristics.

Maintaining an internal pipeline also reduces dependence on larger pharmaceutical partners.

“If you're only working on co-development programs, you're always dependent on your larger partners,” he said. “Strategies change, priorities change. Having our own pipeline provides proof of concept and also creates a degree of security for the company and shareholders.”

Four pillars of drug delivery

The company's technology combines several approaches that together distinguish it from conventional tablet manufacturing.

Using additive manufacturing, Laxxon can produce multi-compartment microtablets measuring between 200 and 700 microns. The platform also incorporates permeation enhancers that are difficult to use with traditional tablet compression technologies.

Perhaps most significantly, it enables highly targeted release of active ingredients throughout the gastrointestinal tract.

“We can design where a drug is released in its entirety or partly based on the different pH- levels,” Mr Kerschbaumer explained. “Whether that's the stomach, duodenum, ileum or colon, we can optimize where the active ingredient is delivered.”

He believes these capabilities allow substantial improvements in bioavailability across a wide range of drug classes rather than being confined to a single therapeutic area.

Patent strategy offers lifecycle opportunity

One area attracting increasing interest from pharmaceutical companies is lifecycle management.

Over the coming decade, medicines generating an estimated $190 billion in annual sales are expected to lose patent protection, exposing manufacturers to substantial generic competition.

Mr Kerschbaumer believes Laxxon's technology could provide an unconventional solution.

By reformulating an existing medicine using the company's additive manufacturing platform, pharmaceutical companies may be able to secure new intellectual property protection around the manufacturing process and drug delivery system.

“We can effectively offer a form of patent extension through a switch in technology,” Mr Kerschbaumer said. “Companies don't necessarily have to lose those revenues immediately when generics arrive.”

The company says its intellectual property portfolio includes around 250 patents and patent applications covering more than 6,000 claims.

Growing interest in oral biologics

The technology is attracting particular attention as pharmaceutical companies seek alternatives to injectable therapies.

Patient preference is one factor. Kerschbaumer estimates that most patients would choose oral medicines over injections where clinically feasible. Health systems also face growing financial pressure from expensive injectable therapies requiring complex manufacturing and distribution.

Laxxon has seen especially strong interest in oral glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) therapies for obesity.

“The GLP-1 market has really accelerated industry interest in what we're doing,” he said. “We believe we can deliver these therapies much more effectively using oral technology.”

Beyond patient convenience, oral formulations could potentially reduce manufacturing, logistics and reimbursement costs.

“Our tablets can sometimes be produced at costs comparable to generic medicines,” Mr Kerschbaumer noted. “So, we're not only innovative, we're also highly cost competitive.”

Early pipeline data

Among Laxxon's internal development programs is a Parkinson's disease candidate that, according to the company, has demonstrated 380% greater bioavailability than currently marketed products.

The goal is to replace six to eight daily doses with three tablets providing 24-hour coverage, including overnight symptom control.

“For Parkinson's patients, nighttime and early morning 'off' periods are a major problem,” Mr Kerschbaumer said. “If we can simplify treatment while maintaining continuous drug exposure, that could make a meaningful difference for patients.”

The company is also advancing an oral GLP-1 candidate alongside several additional reformulated products targeting unmet medical needs.

Looking ahead

Whether additive manufacturing ultimately becomes a mainstream pharmaceutical manufacturing technology remains to be seen.

But Mr Kerschbaumer is convinced that drug delivery is becoming just as strategically important as drug discovery itself.

“I truly believe this can become a key technology for the industry,” he said. “Once companies recognize the opportunities—not only for better therapies but also for lifecycle management and cost savings—I think additive manufacturing will become an increasingly important part of pharmaceutical development.”