Posaconazole for paediatric patients: status of development and future perspectives

Posaconazole is a novel oral antifungal triazole with potent and broad-spectrum antifungal activity, favourable pharmacokinetic properties and a limited spectrum of adverse events. The compound has documented clinical efficacy in the settings of oropharyngeal candidiasis, refractory aspergillosis, fusariosis, zygomycosis, and as antifungal prophylaxis in high-risk patients with acute myeloblastic leukaemia or graft-vs.-host disease. Whereas, posaconazole is approved for use in adults, however, the appropriate dosage and the safety of the compound have not been systematically investigated in paediatric age groups. This paper reviews the relevant pharmacological characteristics of posaconazole, the published data on its use in paediatric patients without therapeutic alternative and perspectives for the clinical development in paediatric patients at risk for invasive fungal infections.