TASTE - MASKED QUININE PELLETS FOR FLEXIBLE PEDIATRIC DRUG DOSING

The lack of pediatric drug formulation for the existing as well as new molecules is a worldwide concern. Pediatricians are forced to fragment adults'' dosage forms. For quinine, tablets (200 or 300 mg quinine sulphate)are broken to get pediatric doses. The author observed weight variations when quinine tablets were broken into halves and quarters and proposed pellets as alternative to tablet breaking since they offer more flexibility for the dose adaptation to the child body weight. Taste-masked pellets of 300¿700 µm of diameter have been produced. The bioavailability of quinine formulated as taste-masked pellets was good compared to the tablets on the market. Quinine efficacy was assessed in 56 children under five years'' age. The mean Parasitaemia Clearance Time (PCT) was 72.8 ± 16.5 h. Concentrations during steady state (10.4 ± 2.1-14.9 ± 1.0 µg/ml)were in the therapeutic range. No treatment failure was observed, making thereby taste-masked quinine sulphate pellets a means for flexible dose adaptation to the body weight of children during malaria treatment.