ABSTRACT
The 'polypill' stands for fixed-dosed combination pills with generic drugs that act on multiple cardiovascular risk factors. Data from randomized controlled trials show consistent beneficial effects of treatment with a polypill on both cardiovascular risk factors and relevant marjor cardiovascular endpoints. However, polypills are not readily available worldwide and only a limited number of polypills is marketed in Europe. Physicians have to embrace polypills in regular care to let the patient benefit from the advantages of the polypill. Licensing more polypills is an essential step to implement these pills in clinical care. Regulatory agencies need to reduce the dossier content requirements for registrations of new fixed-dosed combination pills so generic pharmaceutical companies can expand the number of marketed polypills.