The practice of compounding can be traced back all the way to Biblical times. The bible refers to balms, ointments, perfumes, and oils, almost all of which were compounded to a recipe. Plants were the main ingredients in compounding in these early times (and some are still used even today).

The art of compounding and religion were closely related during the medieval period of alchemy. Philosophy finally gave rise to the scientific method and chemistry and pharmacy, somewhat cleared of their shackles, expanded rapidly with compounding as their backbone.

Pharmacists (chemists) used their knowledge and the scientific method to develop many new medications. Some of these are quinine, petroleum jelly, allantoin, witch hazel, opium, and digitalis. Some chemists devoted their entire careers to the development of new medicines. Even today British pharmacists are called “Chemists”.

In America, by 1800, most towns and cities had a drugstore, which had a compounding pharmacist on staff (most usually the store owner) and a good prescription scale for weighing. Societies of Apothecaries were established and formal educational standards were established. The National Formulary and the United States Pharmacopoeia (in 1820) were established by groups of compounding pharmacists. Eventually these organizations combined forces and set medicinal standards.

In America, by 1800, most towns and cities had a drugstore, which had a compounding pharmacist on staff (most usually the store owner) and a good prescription scale for weighing. Societies of Apothecaries were established and formal educational standards were established. The National Formulary and the United States Pharmacopoeia (in 1820) were established by groups of compounding pharmacists. Eventually these organizations combined forces and set medicinal standards.

There were many side inventions which came out of compounding. The need to make bad tasting prescriptions palatable led to the concoction of good tasting syrups that could be added to prescriptions without detrimental effects. These were eventually combined with plain soda water to produce soft drinks at the soda fountain (often in the pharmacy store). Coca Cola sported caffeine and cocaine and was sold as a headache remedy. Invented by a compounding pharmacist by the name of John Pemberton, Coca Cola really did work, but the risk of addiction was too great and it had to be reformulated.

Compounding pharmacists started many of the famous drug companies, such as Squib, Upjohn, Merck, and Eli Lilly. In the early 1900’s almost every prescription was filled by compounding. . In the 1930’s and 1940’s almost 60% of all prescriptions were compounded. Then, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the need for compounding decreased immensely with the advent of mass manufacturing of pills. It was during this time that the role of pharmacists changed to that of someone who dispensed the already pre-made form, or in modern terms, pill counters. By 1980 Compounding classes were deemphasized at most colleges of pharmacy. In the 1990’s, physicians and patients again realized the benefits of preparing customized medications to meet specific patient needs. Today, about 1% of prescriptions are prepared by compounding, and few pharmacists practice compounding. These few provide a vital service to patients in the areas that require compounding.