WHO includes Cadila Pharma Polycap combination in Essential Medicine List

The Cadila polypill formulation (polycap) which was approved in 2009 by DGCI for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease/stroke in patients with multiple risk factors, is included in the Essential Medicine List.

Dr. Rajiv Modi, Chairman and Managing Director of Cadila Pharmaceuticals, said, “This validation by the World Health Organization is a recognition of our efforts for improving global health. Polycap will help contain the burden of cardiovascular diseases and save millions of lives globally.”

The Polypill formulation (Polycap) is a combination of medications to modify the risk factors like hypercholesterolemia and high blood pressure in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. Extensive research is done on more than 7000 patients in TIPS 1, TIPS 2 and TIPS 3 studies proved that Polycap reduces the risk of cardiovascular problems by almost 60%. 

A WHO release quoted Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as saying that “These treatments could have a very large public health impact globally, without jeopardising the health budgets of low- and middle-income countries.”

Updated every two years, the Essential Medicine List is a register of medications that WHO recommends to every health care system as a minimum mandatory requirement. This list is recognised as a guide for countries’ health systems to prioritise medications that are both effective and affordable. Each addition is considered essential to address key public health needs, as per WHO. The inclusion of Polypills further bolsters the list, which now stands at 502 medications for adults and 361 for children.