Pediatric Drug Extrapolation in U.S. Analyzed
Researchers from several organizations and institutions say the use of extrapolation from adult to pediatric drugs between 1/1/2015 and 7/31/2021 increased the rates of new and expanded indications in the period. Writing in the Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics (purchase required), the researchers say that within the time window they studied, among the 265 drugs and biological products with pediatric labeling changes, 169 (63.8%) were identified where extrapolation was used. That included 64 (24.2%) labeling changes where full extrapolation was used, and 105 (39.6%) labeling changes where partial extrapolation was used.
The major disease areas in which extrapolation was used included neuroscience and infectious disease.