The Catalent Applied Drug Delivery Institute has entered into a collaboration with the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Rutgers University to identify and address the challenges associated with pediatric formulation and drug delivery.
 
The collaboration will research the development and administration of medicines to children, including the prevalence of extemporaneous compounding of drug products for ease of administration to pediatric patients, and any safety and efficacy consequences. The collaboration aims to identify therapies and diseases where there is a high need for pediatric-friendly formulations, and to build awareness and advocate for targeted translational research in this patient group.
 
“Clinical experience has shown us that current pediatric drug formulations are often difficult to administer to children and increase the likelihood for a medication error when compared with adult formulations. There is a clear need for research in this area, to further elucidate the gaps in drug delivery for young children, and in order to improve therapeutic outcomes and the patient experience,” commented Dr. Rachel Meyers, Clinical Associate Professor in the Pharmacy Practice Department at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University.
 
“Through this exciting partnership, we will examine and highlight the unmet scientific, clinical, and patient needs, and look to develop a suitable pediatric-specific drug formulation toolkit to address them,” said Dr. Cornell Stamoran, founder of the Catalent Applied Drug Delivery Institute and Catalent’s vice president of Strategy. “Most initiatives focus on individual new drugs or disease areas – we’re collaborating to identify a broad platform, founded on rigorous stakeholder insights, to establish a foundation for future pediatric drug development.”