Modular Titratable Polypills for Personalized Medicine And Simplification of Complex Medication Regimens.

Simplification of complex medication regimens in polypharmacy positively contributes to treatment adherence and cost-effective improved health outcomes. Even though fixed dose combination (FDC) drug products are the only currently available single dose poly-pill regimens, the lack of flexibility in dose adjustment of a single drug in the combination limits their efficacy. To fill the existing gap in drug dose personalization and simplification of complex medication regimens commonly encountered in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis and tapering of corticosteroid therapy, we propose a modular titratable polypill approach that simultaneously addresses both aspects. The polypill consists of modular units that contain different drugs at incremental or decremental doses to be assembled in a single titratable polypill (STP) at the required dose for each drug through a stacking or interlocking process. The modular tablets were subjected to quality control tests and found to comply to pharmacopoeia's acceptance criteria and requirements specified in the respective drug monographs. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis supporting the STP strategy as cost-effective compared to the FDC strategy and more effective and less expensive than standard of care. The STP approach stands to enable pill burden reduction, ease of administration, enhancement of treatment adherence and potential cost-saving benefits. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.