Age essential when testing drugs

“How do we distinguish children from adults when deciding on medication?” aska professor of clinical pharmacology Anders Rane.

In his research he has studied how genetic variability and differences in age affect how pharmaceuticals like some antibiotics, theophylline, codeine, dextromet orphan and isoniazid act on the body. At the seminar he will present some of his results in this area.

“For example, we know that there are greater differences between newborns to ten-year-olds and teenagers, than among groups of adults.”

The reason for these variations is mainly that even though the genetic information remains constant, the phenotype varies with age.

”Some polymorphic properties may not be fully expressed at an early age,” says Rane.

The new regulations demanding that pharma companies also test drugs in children have changed the incentives, and now there is an economical motivation to do research on how children are affected by medication.

“The regulations as they are today are good,” says Rane.

According to him, these differences in response to drugs make personalized medicine even more urgent for children than for adults. In children, there is also the factor of constantly changing prerequisites for medication, since their bodies grow and physiological functions change.

“It is like shooting at a moving target,” Rane says.