Sometimes the fastest way from an NDA to market is to manufacture the combination of two popular drugs into one. Pharma benefits from a new patent; healthplan formularies benefit from aggressive DTC patient marketing, and the patient ostensibly benefits from a better, cheaper alternative. Usually, the combined agent is two drugs — usually taken together for the treatment of some clinical syndrome. Rarely, three drugs may be combined. But, have you heard of four or even five compounds in a single tablet to treat the number one killer in this country — heart disease? Well, study researchers in Canada and India certainly have. Dubbed the “polypill”, the studied drug is composed of a cholesterol agent, aspirin, and three compounds to control blood pressure. Sure, a 5-in-1 pill enhances patient compliance and would be of low cost (as all drugs would be generic). But medicine is as much an art as it is a science, and one drug — no matter how all inclusive it tries to be — is not all things to all people.  | LINK

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