A combination drug or a fixed-dose combination (FDC) is a medicine that includes two or more active ingredients combined in a single dosage form. Terms like "combination drug" or "combination drug product" can be common shorthand for an FDC product (since most combination drug products are currently FDCs), although the latter is more precise if in fact referring to a mass-produced product having a predetermined combination of drugs and respective dosages (as opposed to customized polypharmacy via compounding). And it should also be distinguished from the term "combination product" in medical contexts, which without further specification can refer to products that combine different types of medical products—such as device/drug combinations as opposed to drug/drug combinations. When a combination drug product (whether fixed-dose or not) is a "pill" (i.e., a tablet or capsule), then it may also be a kind of "polypill" or combopill.
Initially, fixed-dose combination drug products were developed to target a single disease (such as with antiretroviral FDCs used against AIDS). However, FDCs may also target multiple diseases/conditions. In cases of FDCs targeting multiple conditions, such conditions might often be related—in order to increase the number of prospective patients who might be likely to use a given FDC product. This is because each FDC product is mass-produced, and thus typically requires having a critical mass of potentially applicable patients in order to justify its manufacture, distribution, stocking, etc.
Over-the-counter medicines:
Dimenhydrinate (8-chlorotheophylline/diphenhydramine) — used to treat motion sickness and nausea
Glucose/fructose/phosphoric acid — antiemetic taken to relieve nausea and vomiting
Prescription drugs:
Adderall (dextroamphetamine sulfate/amphetamine sulfate/dextroamphetamine saccharate/amphetamine aspartate monohydrate) — treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy.
Aspirin/paracetamol/caffeine — pain treatment, especially tension headache and migraine
Caffeine/ergotamine — treatment of headaches, such as migraine headache.
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Polypharmacy (polypragmasia) is an umbrella term to describe the simultaneous use of multiple medicines by a patient for their conditions. Most commonly it is defined as regularly taking five or more medicines but definitions vary in where they draw the line for the minimum number of drugs. Polypharmacy is often the consequence of having multiple long-term conditions, also known as multimorbidity. An excessive number of medications is worrisome, especially for older patients with many chronic health conditions, because this increases the risk of an adverse event in those patients.
Bupropion, sold under the brand name Wellbutrin among others, is an atypical antidepressant primarily used to treat major depressive disorder and to support smoking cessation. It is also popular as an add-on medication in the cases of "incomplete response" to the first-line selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant. Bupropion has several features that distinguish it from other antidepressants: it does not usually cause sexual dysfunction; it is not associated with weight gain and sleepiness, and it is more effective than SSRIs at improving symptoms of hypersomnia and fatigue.
Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may be supplied only to consumers possessing a valid prescription. In many countries, OTC drugs are selected by a regulatory agency to ensure that they contain ingredients that are safe and effective when used without a physician's care. OTC drugs are usually regulated according to their active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) rather than final products.
Delves into enzyme inhibition, reversible and irreversible binding, and covalent drugs, exploring drug modes of action and their impact on drug efficacy.
The goal of retinoblastoma (RB) treatment is to save the child's life, eyes and functional vision, with that order of priority. The management of RB is complex and involves strategically chosen methods of surgical enucleation, external beam radiotherapy, i ...
The pharmacometric analysis of the double-blind, randomized, phase II study (NCT02975349) investigating the safety and efficacy of evobrutinib, explored exposure-response relationships and suitable dosing regimens of evobrutinib for relapsing multiple scle ...
Retinoblastoma is a rare childhood cancer of the eye. Of the small number of drugs are used to treat retinoblastoma, all have been repurposed from drugs developed for other conditions. In order to find drugs or drug combinations better suited to the improv ...