Neonates are given many medicines. A significant proportion of these medicines contain excipients. Excipients are used to facilitate the manufacture and use of medicines. Without excipients, it
would not be feasible to formulate some drugs into appropriate medicinal products. For others the removal of excipients would reduce the shelf life and make them uneconomic to produce or too
expensive for users to purchase. Excipients are also important because some of them can cause harm.