Developing therapeutics for the treatment of pediatric asthma.

The main goals for developing effective treatments for pediatric asthma are to improve the quality of life of children with asthma by reducing symptoms and the frequency of exacerbations, to allow undisturbed sleep and performance of daily activities, and to ensure a more healthy adult future. Despite advances in modern medical care and the introduction of effective therapies, such as inhaled corticosteroids, poor asthma control exists in clinical practice. This lack of control can be attributed to two primary factors: (i) poor compliance and adherence to treatment; and (ii) poor efficiency of inhalation drug delivery, resulting from the inability of young children to correctly use inhalers that were designed for adults. Both the FDA and EMEA have mandated pediatric testing regulations for drugs indicated for pediatric use and established incentives for the development of such agents; however, there are no inhalers on the market that have been specifically designed to meet the unique needs of children because most inhalers were developed for adults and then used for the treatment of children following minor modifications. Significant effort needs to be invested in the area of pediatric asthma to increase the availability of high-quality, patient-centric medication and delivery systems.