Paediatric Solid Formulations
摘要
Oral drug delivery is the predominant and favoured route of administration across all age populations, given its convenience for patients and cost-effective manufacturing methods. Solid oral formulations, with their diverse range of dosage forms and delivery system designs, represent the most common modality for drug delivery. Conventional adult strength tablets and capsules rarely meet the dosing and administration needs of the heterogeneous paediatric population, ranging from neonates to adolescents. Nevertheless, (smaller) monolithic dosage forms tailored to age-appropriate strengths and sizes might be preferable for (younger) childrenChildren and adolescents, and patients with chronic conditions who require more frequent medication intake. More contemporary oral dosage forms, including mini-tablets, multiparticulates, (oro-)dispersible, and chewable preparations, offer several advantages related to patient acceptability, safety, and access. These formulations can facilitate easier swallowing and provide dosing flexibility, two key attributes which have traditionally favoured liquid formulations over solids for younger children. With heightened efforts to develop better medicines for children, evidence and experience of how different solid oral dosage forms can be used in this population are steadily growing. This chapter describes the rationale for different solid oral dosage forms, current regulatory recommendations related to their pharmaceutical development, and emerging evidence of their acceptability and use across the paediatricPaediatric population.