Combination drug

A combination drug is a combination of two or more pharmaceutical drugs as active ingredients combined into a single dosage form, typically as a fixed-dose combination, with each constituent standardized to specifications of a fixed dose. Fixed-dose combinations are mass-produced and mass-marketed, intended as near universal treatment options for large and diverse patient populations with a multitude adnd variety of medical histories, medical conditions and genetic predisposition, and treatment needs.

A polypill is a pharmacy or capsule containing four or more active ingredients,^[1][2] often needing to be compounded at a specialized pharmacy in order to satisfy the specifications of a patient's personalized prescription and treatment plan, including dosage form, medicinal dosing, and/or mechanism of release. Polypills encompass approved prescription drugs and over the counter drugs, at times including nutritional supplements, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and hormones.^[3]

Fixed-dose combination drugs were initially developed to target a single disease, as with antiretroviral FDCs indicated for treating AIDS and HIV.^[4] Over time, the concept of combination drugs has come to include reducing pill burden for patients, thereby encouraging patient compliance, and generally simplifying treatment plan with one product containing easily accessible (often available over the counter without a prescription requirement), relatively affordable (often generic drugs) ingredients with established therapeutic efficacy and a broad capacity for treating a variety of symptoms and conditions, thus ensuring maximum appeal to a majority of patients amongst a large population with varying needs.