What is compounding?

Compounding is the creation of a pharmaceutical product such as a sustained release capsule, an oral suspension, rectal or vaginal suppositories, topical or transdermal creams to fit the unique need of a patient. Compounding may be done to tailor around patient's specific needs, preference or medically necessary reasons for gluten-free, lactos-free, dye-free, alcohol-free, vegetarian formulations, to avoid an ingredient that a patient is allergic to, or to obtain the exact dose needed. Compounding has its roots in ancient times when humans first discover the healing properties of plants and the chemical processes that transform them into medicines.

Before the early 19th century, it was commonplace for physicians to both prescribe and compound a patient’s medication themselves and the majority of all medications were still the result of pharmaceutical compounding.The advent of mass scale production of patented drugs in the second half of the 20th century has greatly diminished the need for compounded medicines. Today,  a renewed interest in custom medicines is driven by patients need and preference. It may be a request for natural hormones, to flavor a bitter tasting drug suspension, duplicate a drug that is in a shortage, exclude artificial colors, preservatives, gluten containing excipients, or creation of vegan or vegetarian formulations.