What’s the shelf life of a compounded medication?

If you’ve ever received a medicine from a compounding pharmacy, you might have noticed a term on the label called “BUD” or “Beyond Use Date.” While this might sound different from the standard “expiry date” you see on commercial medicines, they actually refer to the same thing: the date after which you should no longer use the medicine. This fact sheet covers the following:

  1. What Determines the Expiry or BUD of Compounded Medicines?
  2. Why Are Compounded Medicines Shorter-Lived Than Commercial Ones?
  3. Clear Labelling for Safety and Convenience
  4. Final Thoughts
  5. Video Transcript

But how are these dates determined in compounding? And why do they vary so much? Let’s break it down.

What Determines the Expiry or BUD of Compounded Medicines?

One of the biggest factors influencing the expiry date of a compounded product is its formulation. This includes both the active ingredients and what are known as excipients or bases—the other substances used to deliver the medicine effectively.

For example:

  • Water-based formulations, like many suspensions for children, typically have a shorter shelf life. In Australia, regulations mandate that these types of medicines should only be used for 28 days after they are made. This is primarily due to the potential for microbial growth in water-containing products.
  • Dry formulations, like capsules that contain powder without any water, can last much longer. These are often assigned a BUD of up to 180 days, provided they are stored correctly and made under quality-controlled conditions.

Why Are Compounded Medicines Shorter-Lived Than Commercial Ones?

Unlike commercial pharmaceutical products that are mass-produced and loaded with preservatives and stabilisers to extend shelf life, compounded medications are tailored to your specific needs. Because of this personalised approach, they often don’t include the same range of additives designed to keep medicines stable for months or years on pharmacy shelves.

Instead, compounding pharmacists aim to provide just enough medication for about a month at a time. This ensures the medicine is fresh and effective when you take it and also minimises the risk of degradation over time.

Clear Labelling for Safety and Convenience

Every compounded medicine you receive will have a label that clearly displays its expiry date or BUD. This is your guide for when to stop using the medicine and when you might need to reorder.

If you’re unsure about the expiry date of your medication, it’s always a good idea to ask your compounding pharmacy. You can request this information before the medicine is made, or contact the pharmacy after you receive it if you have any questions.

Final Thoughts

The BUD on your compounded medicine is there for a reason—to help ensure the safety, efficacy, and freshness of your treatment. Whether you’re receiving a simple water-based liquid or a more complex compound, rest assured that your pharmacy team is working to tailor your medication with both precision and care.

If you ever have questions about your medication’s shelf life or when to reorder, don’t hesitate to reach out to your compounding pharmacist. They’re there to help make sure your treatment is as safe and effective as possible.

This article was written by Matt Bellgrove, Managing Director & Compounding Pharmacist

Video Transcript

This question is a bit like saying “how long is a piece of string?” But let me break it down for you to give you some ideas about what types of medications from compounding pharmacies might have what expiry date.

We also use a different word, and this is called “best use date.” It’s abbreviated to BUD. But essentially, they mean the same thing—whether it’s expiry date or BUD. It’s really the date after which we don’t suggest you continue to use your medicine.

So key point number one is really about what makes up that compounded formulation that you’re using or that you’re about to use. Things like the types of ingredients that go in there may have certain expiries on them. We also call them the excipients or the base, and they may also vary the expiry date of the product.

For example, if we’re making a liquid for a child and it only contains water as the base and the active ingredients inside it as well, well, the regulations say that a water-containing product should only have 28 days expiry after being made by a compounding pharmacy. That’s why you’ll find most suspensions that contain water are only short in comparison.

A capsule that contains a powder as the filler and the active ingredient doesn’t contain water. So basically, this means that that expiry date would be 180 days after it’s made for you.

Keep in mind that these formulations are specifically made for yourself when you need them. So the expiry date starts the day that we make them. Our labels that are on all of the medicines that we provide will always contain the expiry date on it.

To give you some guidance on that, what it will generally mean when comparing us to a commercial manufacturer is, because we’re custom making the medicine, it may not contain all of the excipients or ingredients or other products that a drug company mass production drug might. And because of that, even though it’s a slightly shorter expiry date, we’ll often provide about a month of the medicine just to make sure you’re getting the freshest supply each time you receive it, as opposed to a much larger supplier, which might last you a longer period.

The cost doesn’t vary so much, but the key thing for us is to know that you’re getting the medicine in a timely manner, personally made for yourself, and the expiry date suits the length of medicine or the quantity of medicine that we supply to you.

And like I said just before, obviously one of the key things is just to keep an eye on the dispensed medicine. The label will always tell you what the expiry date or the BUD is. This is our guidance to you about when it should either be ceased or when you do need to reorder your next repeat.

So if you’ve got any questions or you’re uncertain about the expiry date of a certain product, you can always get a quote from us and ask what the expiry date is before we make it for you. Or if you receive the product and have any questions, just feel free to give our pharmacist team a call and we can go from there.