Drug Compounding vs. Manufacturing: What’s the Difference?

When you need a personalized medication, you may have no idea where to turn. Have you ever heard of a compounding pharmacy? These are far different from traditional pharmacies, like the one at your local CVS or grocery store. There are many misconceptions surrounding compounding pharmacies and drug compounding as a whole. 

One common misconception is that compounding pharmacies actually manufacture drugs—though this is far from the truth. Below, you can learn more about what the major differences are between drug compounding and drug manufacturing and where to turn if you find yourself in need of a custom medication.

What Is Drug Compounding?

When you are given a prescription medication from your healthcare provider, you would normally head over to your local pharmacy, drop off the prescription, and your pharmacist would fill it. But for many different reasons, these standard medications that your local pharmacy is stocked with may not be what you need. 

Maybe you need a very specialized dosage of a certain medicine, or perhaps you cannot take oral medications and need to deliver it another way. When you go to a compounding pharmacy to fill prescriptions that you need custom-made, your compounding pharmacist can formulate the medication to meet your individual needs. 

Not only can we change the dosage of a medication you could benefit from, but we can also put it into many different forms, including:

• Lozenges
• Creams and gels
• Injectables
• Patches
• Oral capsules
• Suppositories

But drug compounding is simply modifying existing medications, suiting them to meet a patient’s needs. Drug manufacturing on the other hand, is much different.

How Drug Manufacturing Works

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is the process by which prescription medications are made, no matter their form. These are the medications that are ordered by your local pharmacist and used to fill your prescriptions. 

Molecular biologists, pharmacists, and medicinal chemists work together to develop new drugs, determine what potency works best for the majority of people suffering from a certain condition, and improve the benefits of existing drugs. That process is called drug development. 

But the part of the process where drugs are physically made into medications that can be given to patients is what drug manufacturing entails. Although drug manufacturing is similar to drug compounding, drug compounding would not be possible without existing medications to manipulate and specify. 

If you are interested in learning more about pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, or if you want to learn more about how drug compounding works, you can always reach out to The Healthy Choice compounding pharmacy to discuss your questions and concerns. 

Contact a Respected Compounding Pharmacy for Your Custom Medications

If you are in need of a compounding pharmacy to formulate your personalized medication, or if you are unsure how to go about obtaining a custom medicine, you can reach out to your physician or The Healthy Choice compounding pharmacy. You can reach us through the quick contact form we have provided at the bottom of this page, or give us a call at 914-238-1700.