Excipients are included in medicines primarily to support what aspects?

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Excipients are inactive ingredients whose job is to support the practical aspects of turning an active drug into a usable medicine. Their main purpose is to aid formulation and delivery: enabling tablet formation (binders and fillers), ensuring uniform dose, improving stability and shelf life, facilitating release and dissolution of the drug in the body, and helping with swallowing, taste, appearance, or coating so the product is acceptable and properly packaged. They do not modify how the drug works pharmacologically, nor do they increase potency. Color or flavor adjustments can be achieved with excipients, but these are secondary attributes compared to the core need to make the medicine feasible to manufacture and use.