How can the same medication (e.g. ibuprofen) be designed to target specific body parts? Is that just marketing, or does the formulation make a difference?

Question

I see adverts all the time, ibuprofen designed to target joint and knee pain… then the next ibuprofen one might be targeted for headaches… I always wonder whether either would do the same job as the other one as they’re both ibuprofen.

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

They’re all pretty much the same. There was some [litigation in Australia](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35090087) about this a few years ago.