A Survey of the Structures of US FDA Approved Combination Drugs

Combination
drugs are an important class of US FDA approved pharmaceuticals.
These drugs have been on a continuous growth trajectory since the
first combination drugs were approved in the 1940s. In this Perspective,
we report the first comprehensive compilation and analysis of US FDA
approved combination drugs, from the first approval in 1943 through
2018. Our database contains 419 combination drugs, which are represented
by 328 unique small molecule structures. Breakdown of these drugs
according to disease category, structure, combination composition,
and year of approval is presented as well as the top 24 most commonly
used small molecule combination drug components. For frequently used
small molecule components, we present “relationship diagrams”
to aid in the visualization of the many drug combinations these structures
are part of. The main body contains 10 disease-focused sections wherein
every small molecule component utilized as part of a combination for
each disease category is displayed.