Maximising success in multidrug formulation development: A review

Abstract

Patient compliance will soon become one of the most critical challenges in modern healthcare. Due in part to our aging population, the rise in the number of chronic conditions will cause increasing stress on global healthcare systems, magnifying current problems. The solutions employed to improve compliance have failed to deliver and the medical community have turned to Multidrug Formulations (MDFs), to provide an answer. This work summarises key challenges and subsequent solutions developed by formulation scientists when designing new MDFs, examining their rationale and highlighting successes to-date. Current and emerging MDF strategies are reviewed alongside a discussion of how the scientific community can bring these ideas from the benchtop to the clinic. Examples have been highlighted where teams have delivered scientific novelty, but a lack of clinical appreciation reduces their likelihood of patient impact. Potential gaps within the literature are identified where new, novel or modernised approaches could make a significant impact on patients.

Keywords: Drug delivery and drug development; Fixed dose combination; Multidrug delivery; Patient compliance; PolyPill.