Editing Polypill (section)

{{Short description|Drug with multiple pharmaceutical ingredients}}

A '''polypill''' or '''single pill combination''' (SPC) is a type of [[combination drug|drug combination]] consisting of a single drug product in pill form (i.e., [[tablet (pharmacy)|tablet]] or [[capsule (pharmacy)|capsule]]) and thus ''combines'' multiple [[medication]]s (that is, more than one [[active ingredient|active pharmaceutical ingredient]]). The prefix "poly" means "multiple", referring to the multiplicity of distinct drugs in a given "pill". In precise [[usage (language)|usage]], a pill is a polypill if it contains at least 4 drugs (meaning that [[combination drug|fixed-dose combinations]] of 2 or 3 drugs are not polypills). An occasional synonym is ''combopill''.  A polypill commonly targets treatment or prevention of [[chronic condition]]s.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/83/12/news11205/en/index.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101041741/http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/83/12/news11205/en/index.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 1, 2013 |title = WHO &#124; Polypill holds promise for people with chronic disease}}</ref>

Polypills may be aimed to be consumed by healthy people as a means of [[preventive medicine]], and/or treating actual pathophysiological condition(s), the former typically involving lower dosages than the latter.  Polypills can reduce the number of [[Tablet (pharmacy)|tablets]] or [[Capsule (pharmacy)|capsules]] (generally [[Oral administration|orally administered]]) that need to be taken, which in turn may facilitate handling and administration of pharmaceuticals as well as alleviate patient pill-burden.  Sometimes the multiple drugs in a given polypill might all be aimed at a single underlying condition (or, group of related conditions), partly because this expands the pool of potential patients for whom a given combination of drugs/dosages might be appropriate (particularly in the case of mass-produced polypills, i.e. FDCs). The term polypill was first coined in the context of [[cardiovascular disease]] prevention,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Polypill |title = Polypill}}</ref><ref name="pmid12829553">{{cite journal |vauthors=Wald NJ, Law MR |title=A strategy to reduce cardiovascular disease by more than 80% |journal=BMJ |volume=326 |issue=7404 |page=1419 |date=June 2003 |pmid=12829553 |pmc=162259 |doi=10.1136/bmj.326.7404.1419}}</ref> but has since gained broader acceptance, including now for combinatorial drug products that existed before the term was actually coined (as the bare term without any modifiers is now quite generic).

In addition to the noted fixed-dose types of polypills, polypills can also be custom-made for specific patients through a process called [[pharmacy compounding]]. Physicians in most jurisdictions have wide discretion to prescribe customized drug products containing unique drug-dosage combinations (and/or formulations thereof) specifically for individual patients, which certain pharmacies can then sometimes produce for such patients.