What is a compounded medicine?

Most medicines are manufactured in standard strengths and forms. But sometimes, a commercially available medicine may not meet an individual patient’s needs. That is where medicine compounding may be considered.

What does compounding mean?

Compounding is the preparation of a medicine for an individual patient. A pharmacist may combine, alter or prepare ingredients to provide a particular strength, formulation or dosage form that is not commercially available.

For example, a compounded medicine might be prepared as:

• A liquid for someone who cannot swallow tablets
• A different strength from the commercially available product
• A cream, ointment, capsule or other dosage form
• A formulation without a particular colour, flavour, preservative or inactive ingredient

A compounded medicine may require a valid prescription, depending on the medicine and formulation.

Are compounded medicines the same as standard medicines?

No. Commercially manufactured medicines are generally included on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods and assessed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Patient-specific compounded medicines are generally considered unapproved therapeutic goods. This means the individual compounded product has not been evaluated by the TGA for safety, quality or effectiveness in the same way as a registered medicine.

Compounding is instead governed by Australian law, professional pharmacy standards and requirements applying to how the medicine is prepared and supplied.

How is a compounded medicine prepared?

Before preparing a compounded medicine, the pharmacist reviews the prescription or request and considers:

• Whether compounding is appropriate
• The required ingredients and strength
• The most suitable dosage form
• Ingredient compatibility
• Preparation, packaging and storage requirements
• The medicine’s expiry or beyond-use date

The medicine is prepared for the individual patient and labelled with directions for use and storage.

Speak with your doctor and pharmacist

Compounding is not automatically suitable whenever a standard medicine is unavailable or inconvenient. Your doctor and pharmacist need to consider whether a compounded preparation is clinically appropriate and whether an approved alternative is available.

Your pharmacist can also explain how to use and store the medicine, its expiry date and any precautions that apply.

Have a compounding prescription?

Send your eScript or speak with the House of Pharmacy compounding team. We can review the request and explain the available options, expected preparation time and cost.

Contact our compounding team

This article provides general information and is not a substitute for advice from your doctor or pharmacist. All compounded medicine requests are subject to pharmacist assessment, ingredient availability and prescription requirements.

Further information: Therapeutic Goods Administration — Compounded medicines