pediatric-congress-2019-scientifictracks

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Pediatric Congress 2019

Current Pediatric Research | ISSN: 0971-9032 | Volume 23

Page 32

July 25-26, 2019 | Amsterdam, Netherlands

OF EXCELLENCE

IN INTERNATIONAL

MEETINGS

YEARS

International Conference on

PEDIATRICS AND NEONATOLOGY

PHARMACEUTICAL TECHNOLOGY: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN IMPROVING

PEDIATRIC DRUG FORMULATIONS

Cirri Marzia

University of Florence, Italy

ediatric and neonatal therapies represent unique challenges in their management, as most of pediatric

drugs are unlicensed or off-label from both the point of view of the pharmacological indication, formulation

and administration route. Pediatric therapies impose peculiar dosage forms and administration routes and re-

quire continuous dosing adjustments, in relation to children rapid growth. The lack of pharmaceutical products

appositely formulated for pediatric use leads to manipulations of dosage forms for adult patients, increasing

the risks of adverse drug reactions, which may be more severe or different from those in adults. The large use

of extemporaneous preparation obtained starting from products for adults (Tablets, capsules and injectable

vials) both in hospital pharmacy or at home leads to poor or uncontrolled dosing accuracy, unknown stability,

variable bioavailability, poor compliance for children and care-givers. Another main problem to be solved is

the palatability, as recognised by the European Paediatric Formulation Initiative (EuPFI). Several products can

result unpleasant in taste and appearance, leading to poor compliance in the pediatric population and thus

negatively influencing the relative clinical outcomes. Again, a great problem to consider in the development

of pediatric formulations is the stability. Some excipients are essential to improve the chemical stability of the

formulation and prevent the microbial growth during storage and use, but their presence can result harmful to

children. Special attention must be given to the use of appropriate excipients for children of various ages. The

need for developing medicinal products adequately designed for pediatric use has been recently pointed out

by the European Medicinal Agency. The biggest challenge in pediatric formulation development is to create

flexible and easy to administer dosage forms, able to assure safety, accurate dosing, suitable therapeutic effi-

cacy, palatability and stability. The lecture will be focused on the opportunities offered by the pharmaceutical

technology in order to improve pediatric drug formulations.

Cirri Marzia, Curr Pediatr Res 2019, Volume 23

Cirri Marzia has completed her PhD in 2004 at University of Florence, Italy. She is Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology at

University of Florence. She is the author of 66 publications with publication H-index of 31 and 2130 citations. She has been serving

as Guest Editor and Referee of reputed journals. She achieved a poster award for her scientific activity regarding pediatric formu-

lations development in 2017. She has carried out teaching staff activities in international countries. She collaborates with several

national and international research groups. Her research lines are focused on the improvement of the biopharmaceutical properties

of drugs by different strategies.

BIOGRAPHY