Improving Medicines for Children in Canada

Book excerpt: "Recognizing the importance of developing safe and effective medicines specifically for children, the Minister of Health, on behalf of Health Canada, asked the Council of Canadian Academies to provide an evidence-based and authoritative assessment of the state of research and regulations leading to the approval of therapeutic products for children, in Canada and abroad. Specifically, this assessment examines the following questions: What is the state of clinical pharmacology, in Canada and abroad, that can be applied to the ethical development of safe and effective pharmaceuticals and biologics labelled as therapies for infants, children, and youth? How does human development from infancy to youth alter clinical pharmacology and therefore inform pediatric drug investigations? What are best practices to ethically conduct scientifically sound but adaptive drug studies to confirm the safety and effectiveness of drugs for infants, children, and youth? When the participation of infants, children, and youth in drug studies is not feasible, what are the best practices to confirm drug safety and effectiveness in these populations? What are Canada's strengths to contribute to global pharmacovigilance efforts for drugs that may benefit infants, children, and youth?"--Executive summary.