MEDICINE FOR CHILDREN

Researchers are being invited to submit ideas for research into medicines or children as part of a new initiative by the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme. The programme is commissioning a portfolio of research projects into the area as part of its work with the newly created Medicines for Children Research Network (MCRN), set up to target the development of safe and effective medicines for the treatment of youngsters aged newborn to 18.

“Recent studies suggest that in the UK more than half of the medicines prescribed for babies in neonatal intensive care are unlicensed or off-label, and up to a quarter of all medicines prescribed in pediatric inpatient care fall into this category,” says Professor Tom Walley, Director of the HTA programme and Professor of Clinical Pharmacology in the Prescribing Research Group at the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Liverpool. “The MCRN has been set up to investigate safe and appropriate medicines for children, and the HTA programme is delighted to be supporting the new network to help address this largely neglected area.”

The HTA programme intends to commission a variety of research projects (including primary, secondary and methodological designs) to help support the new network, with investigators from all disciplines invited to bid for research work in the area.

“This is the latest step in the Department of Health’s pediatric medicines strategy which aims to improve children’s health through the development of children’s medicines,” says Professor Sally Davies, Head of Research & Development at the Department of Health. “Currently, most medicines are designed and tested in adults, so healthcare professionals must use their skill and judgment when prescribing medicines for children. We want to see safer and more effective treatments designed specifically for children. Research commissioned and funded through the Health Technology Assessment programme, and coordinated through the Medicines for Children Research Network, is vital in achieving this.”

Posted in: Article