A European register of clinical trials on drug therapy in children

The scarcity of drug therapy data in children, compared to that in adults, is well-acknowledged. Paediatric research is more complex and entails greater responsibilities. The lack of paediatric data, however, forces those who administer drugs to children to rely on established adult indications, “adjusting” them for small patients. Such uses may be the best therapeutic solutions possible, but, unless administered as part of a clinical trial, can be considered uncontrolled experiments in which patients are unknowingly enrolled that don’t capture data on the drugs’ effects. It is important that data from trials, especially paediatric ones, be made available to overcome this lack of knowledge. This can be accomplished with registers. DEC-net, a European register of ongoing paediatric drug therapy trials, was set up to serve as a resource for planning new studies, facilitating patient access to trials, and identifying neglected therapeutic needs. Its primary analyses showed that international research efforts exist, but revealed limited knowledge of ongoing research. Simply having the means, with a register such as DEC-net, would help expose research efforts and improve drug knowledge.