药物 (yàowù) is a formal, general noun for 'medication' or 'pharmaceuticals' — it covers any substance used to treat illness, including both Chinese and Western medicine. It is broader than 药 (yào), which is the everyday word for 'medicine' (a pill, a dose), and more general than 药品 (yào pǐn), which emphasizes the product as a manufactured item. Unlike 医药 (yī yào), which refers to the medical field as a whole, 药物 focuses on the drugs themselves.