This year has seen an unprecedented paradigm shift. For so many years, commercial medications tried to serve every demographic as part of a sweeping one-size-fits-all solution. But now personalized medicine is taking the center stage, for better, targeted treatments that serve the individual. We explore how this has come to be, and how compounded medications already provide the answer.
Why Personalized Medicine is Important
Recent statistics indicate that 90% of ‘blockbuster medicines’ work for only 30-50% of patients. And that makes sense. There are as many things that make us unique as there are that make us similar. Particularly in the field of genetic testing and cancer treatment, personalized medicine promises to change (and save) lives by offering more focused diagnosis and care.
The Growing Trend
Spanning therapeutics, medical devices, nutrition and wellness, the personalized medicine market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 9.3% over the next decade reaching $233.4 billion by 2025. This is more than just abstract. You don’t have to look far to see examples of brands and treatments catering to the individual marketed across the country, whether it’s the latest pop-up IV infusion clinic, or the personalized vitamins delivered to your door by Care/of. The biggest indicator of this trend? Big companies are starting to keep pace. Leading pharma and biotech industries have doubled their investment in personalized medicine over the last five years.
Compounded Formulations: The Original, Personalized Medicine
As a compounding pharmacy network, we look at these trends with no surprise. Because bespoke medicine is already here (and it’s been here for decades!) in the form of compounding pharmacies.
As far back as the 1930s and 40s, personalized medicines prepared by a pharmacist from scratch were tailor-made to treat the individual as just that, the individual. Today, this important service continues at full speed, encompassing a broad range of services for patient needs:
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- Adapting medications for increased compliance or to make it easier to consume is critical for patients like small children, the elderly or those with dysphagia. At VLS Pharmacy, we offer 20+ flavors to make medications taste great (bubble gum or cherry, anyone?) and fun to take (as lollipops or gummy bears) while also offering alternative delivery systems such as lozenges, sustained release medications, IV infusions, sprays, transdermals, suppositories, gels and more.
- Dosage is critical for any medication and compounding allows modifications according to a patient’s physical size or age requirement.
- Allergens, lifestyle or sensitivities. These are all important factors when it comes to what medication you can safely (or comfortably) take. Medications can be made kosher, or free of lactose, gluten, dyes or preservatives.
- Medications that are unavailable, discontinued, backordered, or hard to find are our specialties. We can make almost any medication from scratch so that patients never have to miss a dose.
- For aesthetic, wellness and dermatological needs, the sky’s the limit. Our pharmacists formulate with specialty ingredients for a unique patient profile or diagnosis, whether it’s for skin lightening, hair regrowth or simply a custom in-office peel. And when it comes to the increasingly popular nutritional IV therapy, infusions can be catered to your patients’ needs, whether it’s to help improve mental clarity or to boost detoxification and immunity.
Personalized Medicine, Upgraded
At VLS Pharmacy, each bespoke medication is formulated in a premium, state-of-the-art laboratory with hands-on expertise. Because we believe in giving your patients the best.
- Sterile Expertise: Our USP-grade and HD compliant sterile labs are exclusively run by pharmacists trained in sterile compounding, supervised by a pharmacist with over three decades of experience. Our lab is quality controlled 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Each sterile batch is tested by third parties to ensure quality, efficacy, and sterility.
- Competitive Licensing Credentials: We have one of the highest levels of accreditation in the industry and are proud members of the Professional Compounding Centers of America (PCCA).
- Collaboration and Service: We don’t just process orders and fill prescriptions. If your practice needs guidance, collaborative support or professional insight into developing treatment plans, maintaining product stability, or just getting started, we’re here to make it happen, with professionalism at every step.
Sources: Cision, Forbes, Nature.com
