Making better medicines for children

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Last week, I was delighted to attend the 8th Conference of the European Paediatric Formulation Initiative, in partnership with the International Association for Pharmaceutical Technology, as an invited speaker. The event, held in Lisbon, Portugal, brought together researchers, policy makers and people from industry, to discuss new and innovative ways to make medicines better for children and young people.

The European Paediatric Formulation Initiative (EuPFI) was founded in 2007 by a group of individuals from pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and academic institutions, interested in formulating better medicines for children. The main objective of the initiative was to resolve scientific, regulatory and technological issues associated with paediatric formulation development. Since its establishment, it has now evolved from a club of members to a consortium of 14 institutions working collaboratively. Each year, they host an annual conference, attracting over 100 delegates. This conference focuses on challenges and opportunities for developing paediatric products. It was wonderful that the conference organisers had placed my plenary session at the start of the conference, to fully demonstrate the importance of involving people living with health conditions in everything that is done within the research community – from basic scientific work in the laboratory, through to clinical research in the hospital. My lecture focussed on the views of young people involved in research, and I demonstrated how we should effectively engage with patients and the public in all research and development processes. In doing so, we can raise the quality of research, improve the relevance of research, and make research outcomes more cost-effective in society. If you would like to look at my presentation, please click here!