With Age Comes Challenges But Not Trials
February 27, 2019
The elderly are the biggest users of pharmaceutical products but make up only a small percentage of participants in clinical trials. The reason behind this is obvious: elderly patients are complicated, and deciphering a drug’s benefit-to-harm ratio in complicated patients is challenging. A key focus of Andrew McLachlan’s career is understanding the impact of aging on drug disposition and response to medicines. Today, he is Head of the University of Sydney School of Pharmacy, Dean of Pharmacy, and Program Director of Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Centre for Research Excellence in Medicines and Ageing. He’s also a Member of the Order of Australia. We spoke with McLachlan to find out why the needs of the elderly are so often overlooked in drug development.
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