Challenges and opportunities in the design of age-appropriate drug products

The age appropriateness of a pharmaceutical product for older patient populations is most important in achieving ease of use, administration, and adherence as well as the therapeutic benefit of the drug. Drug development is a lengthy and risky investment accompanied by extensive regulatory requirements to meet all the safety, efficacy, and quality criteria of a pharmaceutical product. Older adults represent a very heterogeneous patient population with different needs compared to younger adults. Major areas that should be considered in the design of age-appropriate products (AAP) are age- and disease-related aspects such as (a) different dose strengths, (b) issues in handling, administering, and managing the drug product, (c) and complex medication regimens. The application of different technologies can meet these specific needs and should be considered at the very beginning of product development when setting the targeted quality product profile (TQPP) or later on during the product life-cycle management.