Can we create customized polypills for personalized drug formulation?

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Qi, Sheng (2025) Can we create customized polypills for personalized drug formulation? Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, 22 (7). pp. 915-918. ISSN 1474-0338

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Abstract

The concept of polypills has existed for decades. A polypill is a fixed-dose combination of multiple drugs designed to target specific health conditions. One of the most well-known examples is the cardiovascular polypill, which combines blood pressure-lowering agents, statins, and antiplatelet drugs to prevent heart attacks and strokes [Citation1]. The synergistic effects of these active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have been shown in multiple randomized controlled trials to significantly reduce cardiovascular risk factors and events while minimizing side effects [Citation2]. Personalized polypills take this concept a step further by tailoring both drug combinations and dosages to individual patients. Why is this necessary? Traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ drug formulations fail to account for genetic variations, leading to suboptimal efficacy and a higher risk of side effects. A pharmacogenomics report by the Royal College of Physicians and the British Pharmacological Society found that 99.5% of people have at least one genetic variant affecting drug response, with 25% carrying four or more [Citation3]. This means that polypills with fixed-dose combinations may not provide optimal therapeutic benefits for every patient. Additionally, the rising prevalence of multimorbidity, affecting 37.2% of adults globally and up to 67% of those over 74 [Citation4,Citation5], poses a major global health challenge. Patients with multiple chronic conditions often face complex medication regimens, leading to poor patient compliance and diminished quality of life. Alarmingly, 65% of older adults with multimorbidity do not adhere to their prescribed medications [Citation6]. This highlights the urgent need for solutions to reduce pill burden, such as personalized polypills, which could simplify treatment regimens and improve treatment outcomes.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding: This manuscript was funded by the Horizon Europe Programme [Grant 101130241] and from UKRI [Grants 10099133 and 10100435]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Uncontrolled Keywords: 3d printing,personalized medicine,compliance,fixed dose combinations,multimorbidity,pharmaceutical manufacturing,polypills,regulatory approval,pharmaceutical science ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3000/3003
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Pharmaceutical Materials and Soft Matter
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 24 Apr 2025 10:30
Last Modified: 08 Jul 2025 12:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/99076
DOI: 10.1080/17425247.2025.2498650

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