Promising outlook for pediatric drug development, US study shows

Resources dedicated to creating medicines to meet the unique needs of children have grown steadily since legislation guiding pediatric drug development was enacted in the USA two decades ago, and the outlook for still greater development looks promising, according to a new analysis completed by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

Even though R&D complexity has grown more than 50% since 2008, resources dedicated to pediatric studies have increased across most R&D functions, according to the new Tufts CSDD study, which updates a similar assessment it completed nearly a decade ago.

"Much has changed since 2007, including the need to conduct pediatric studies earlier in development across all age groups, with appropriate formulations, in the context of a changing, more complex research environment," noted Christopher-Paul Milne, research associate professor and director of research at Tufts CSDD at Tufts University School of Medicine, who conducted the analysis.