Children in the developed world have never enjoyed better medical care: mortality has decreased and many fatal diseases of the past can today be prevented or even cured. However, the current practice of pharmacotherapy in children does not reflect existing scientific knowledge and has come under scrutiny by paediatricians, pharmacists and regulatory authorities. In order to advance the development of medicines tailored to paediatric needs, US and EU legislators have taken action, and the WHO has initiated a global paediatric campaign. This book gives an overview over the worldwide activities that increasingly include children in the development of new medicines. Triggered by both a better understanding of how the child’s body develops as well as recent legislation in the USA and in Europe, this comprises dosing, ethics, age-appropriate pharmaceutical forms and clinical trials, to name just a few aspects. A wide spectrum of readers will profit from this book, including paediatricians, pharmacists, general practitioners and health care professionals involved in child care and paediatric research, clinical trial personnel, patient advocacy groups, ethics committees, politicians, parents and interested lay persons.

As off-label use of medicines in children is no longer acceptable today, paediatric drug development is currently in transition from an almost exclusive academic specialty towards an integrated part of the global process that drives the development of new pharmaceuticals. US and EU governments have made it mandatory for the pharmaceutical industry to investigate medicines in children, thus exposing a multitude of different institutions to paediatric research. Written by exponents of the academia as well as the pharmaceutical industry, regulators and patient advocacy groups, this book explains the background of the US and EU paediatric legislations, gives an analysis of their probable short-, mid- and long-term impact, addresses key operational challenges in paediatric research, and develops a tentative vision where paediatric drug development needs to go. Helping to understand the role of the different stakeholders, the spectrum of readers to profit from this book ranges from paediatricians, general medical personnel and pharmacologists to those involved in regulatory affairs and clinical trials, pharmaceutical company management, patient advocacy groups, ethical committees, politicians and interested lay persons.

Most medicines have never been adequately tested for safety and efficacy in pediatric populations and preterm, infants and children are particularly vulnerable to adverse drug reactions. Pediatric Drug Development: Concepts and Applications, Second Edition, addresses the unique challenges in conducting effective drug research and development in pediatric populations. This new edition covers the legal and ethical issues of consent and assent, the additional legal and safety protections for children, and the appropriate methods of surveillance and assessment for children of varying ages and maturity, particularly for patient reported outcomes. It includes new developments in biomarkers and surrogate endpoints, developmental pharmacology and other novel aspects of global pediatric drug development. It also encompasses the new regulatory initiatives across EU, US and ROW designed to encourage improved access to safe and effective medicines for children globally. From an international team of expert contributors Pediatric Drug Development: Concepts and Applications is the practical guide to all aspects of the research and development of safe and effective medicines for children.

Pediatric Drug Development: Concepts and Applications is designed as a reference and textbook and is meant to address the science of differences between the pediatric and adult subject in the development of pharmaceutical products. Considered are the ethics and medical needs of proper understanding the pediatric and adult differences, the business case for proper development of drugs for children, as well as the technical feasibility studies and processes that are necessary for a proper pediatric drug development program. The applications of these approaches will benefit all stakeholders and ultimately not only educate but also provide better and safer drugs for pediatric patients.

Children in the developed world have never enjoyed better medical care: mortality has decreased and many fatal diseases of the past can today be prevented or even cured. However, the current practice of pharmacotherapy in children does not reflect existing scientific knowledge and has come under scrutiny by paediatricians, pharmacists and regulatory authorities. In order to advance the development of medicines tailored to paediatric needs, US and EU legislators have taken action, and the WHO has initiated a global paediatric campaign. This book gives an overview over the worldwide activities that increasingly include children in the development of new medicines. Triggered by both a better understanding of how the child's body develops as well as recent legislation in the USA and in Europe, this comprises dosing, ethics, age-appropriate pharmaceutical forms and clinical trials, to name just a few aspects.A wide spectrum of readers will profit from this book, including paediatricians, pharmacists, general practitioners and health care professionals involved in child care and paediatric research, clinical trial personnel, patient advocacy groups, ethics committees, politicians, parents and interested lay persons.

The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) and the Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA) were designed to encourage more pediatric studies of drugs used for children. The FDA asked the IOM to review aspects of pediatric studies and changes in product labeling that resulted from BPCA and PREA and their predecessor policies, as well as assess the incentives for pediatric studies of biologics and the extent to which biologics have been studied in children. The IOM committee concludes that these policies have helped provide clinicians who care for children with better information about the efficacy, safety, and appropriate prescribing of drugs. The IOM suggests that more can be done to increase knowledge about drugs used by children and thereby improve the clinical care, health, and well-being of the nation's children.

Decades of research have demonstrated that children do not respond to medications in the same way as adults. Differences between children and adults in the overall response to medications are due to profound anatomical, physiological, and developmental differences. Although few would argue that children should receive medications that have not been adequately tested for safety and efficacy, the majority of drugs prescribed for children-50 to 75 percent-have not been tested in pediatric populations. Without adequate data from such testing, prescribing drugs appropriately becomes challenging for clinicians treating children, from infancy through adolescence. Addressing the Barriers to Pediatric Drug Development is the summary of a workshop, held in Washington, D.C. on June 13, 2006, that was organized to identify barriers to the development and testing of drugs for pediatric populations, as well as ways in which the system can be improved to facilitate better treatments for children.