A Comparative Review of Waivers Granted in Pediatric Drug Development by FDA and EMA from 2007-2013.
BACKGROUND
The European Union and the United States have different legal frameworks in place for pediatric drug development, which can potentially lead to different pediatric research requirements for the pharmaceutical industry. This manuscript compares pediatric clinical trial waivers granted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).


METHODS
This is a retrospective review comparing EMA's Paediatric Committee (PDCO) decisions with FDA's Pediatric Review Committee (PeRC) recommendations for all product-specific pediatric full waiver applications submitted to EMA from January 2007 through December 2013. Using baseline data from EMA, we matched product-specific waivers with their FDA equivalents during the study period.


RESULTS
For single active substance products, PDCO and PeRC adopted similar opinions in 42 of 49 indications (86%). For fixed-dose combinations, PDCO and PeRC adopted similar opinions in 24 of 31 indications (77%).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the different legal frameworks, criteria, and processes of determination, the waiver decisions of the 2 agencies were similar in the majority of cases.
European Medicines Agency, London, United Kingdom.
Gunter F
GF
Egger
US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
Gerold T
GT
Wharton
US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
Suzanne
S
Malli
US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
Jean
J
Temeck
US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
M Dianne
MD
Murphy
European Medicines Agency, London, United Kingdom.
Paolo
P
Tomasi
Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act; Paediatric Committee (PDCO); Pediatric Regulation; Pediatric Research Equity Act; Pediatric Review Committee (PeRC); drug regulation in children