Medications demonstrate higher compatibility when they possess certain characteristics in how they're processed by the body. Those with simple metabolism pathways tend to interact less with other medications. This is especially true for drugs that undergo minimal liver processing or are broken down into basic components. Medications that work locally, such as injectable treatments like Botox, also have fewer interactions because their effects are more limited.

Conversely, several factors can significantly reduce a medication's compatibility with other drugs. Medications that undergo complex liver metabolism have more interactions because they compete with other drugs for the same processing pathways. Those that either induce or inhibit enzyme activity can affect how other medications are metabolized. Furthermore, when multiple medications share the same metabolic pathways, they're more likely to interact with each other, potentially affecting their effectiveness or safety.

This understanding helps explain why newer medications like CGRP antagonists, which break down into simple components, and treatments with targeted mechanisms of action tend to have higher compatibility scores. It also explains why medications that heavily rely on liver processing or have multiple mechanisms of action typically have more limited combination options.