With hundreds of pharmaceutical companies internationally, each sharing a portion
of a global, multi-trillion dollar business, and with international drug approval
regulations varying widely in terms of restrictions, timing, and cost, each decision
made by pharmaceutical companies in planning the development of a new drug has immense
financial consequences. Grünenthal, a family-owned pharmaceutical company that now
employs over 4500 individuals, has funded and executed multiple clinical drug trials
of the analgesic tapentadol, a novel molecule with both mu-opioid and SNRI-like (serotonin
and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) properties that have been shown to be effective
in the treatment of acute and chronic pain in adults. In taking the necessary steps
to demonstrate pharmacokinetics, efficacy and, safety in the pediatric population
for their drug, Grünenthal has established a precedent and set the bar for other pharmaceutical
companies – one that has remained largely absent from the most recent drug releases.
Medical advances and new drug development have grown at a tremendous pace, and continue
to reach new heights year after year. In 1996, the United States Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) approved a record-breaking 50 new drug approvals.1 In the year 2018, another
benchmark was set when the FDA issued approvals for 61 new drugs.1 While used as evidence
of the progress of the economies of medically advanced countries, these numbers do
not reflect the myopic perspective that predominates the world of pharmaceutical development
in ignoring 25% of the population – children.
Of the 61 new drug approvals in 2018, only 4 approvals were for the pediatric age
group (ages 2–17)2 in spite of the fact that children and adolescents represent one-quarter
of the population, suffer from many of the same ailments as do their elders, and from
many more that are unique to their age group. Today, only about half of analgesic
medications used in either inpatient or outpatient settings have been thoroughly evaluated
for efficacy and safety, and have dosing guidelines approved by the international
regulatory agencies for use in pediatrics.2 The number of analgesic medications approved
in ages less than 2 years, including preterm infants, is even more humbling at only
35%.10 Yet in spite of the lack of clinical trials by industry and thorough evaluation
by governmental bodies, analgesics are still widely prescribed in pediatrics and are
used “off-label,” which increases the risk to the patient for both toxicity and lack
of efficacy, as well as medicolegal exposure for the healthcare provider.5
These statistics hallmark one of the realities of pharmaceutical progress: with competition
to be the quickest to bring new medications to market also comes the incentive to
bypass important steps that confer benefit to society but are, at the same time, deemed
unnecessary for the sake of corporate profit. In the case of pain medication, this
means that the pediatric population is overlooked, and is deprived of evidence for
safe and effective medication administration.
Of course, pharmaceutical research and development for children has many challenges.
Ethical considerations, financial burdens, and time constraints make it difficult
and expensive for the pharmaceutical industry to allocate their resources to what
is, in essence, an ethical and altruistic duty that does not assure their return on
investment. To address the problem of the misaligned interests of pharmaceutical companies,
who have well-defined fiduciary obligations to their stockholders, and the vulnerable
patients and their healthcare providers, it has been necessary to have intervention
by governments to align public health and corporate priorities.
For example, since 1994 there have been several regulatory programs and statutory
requirements put in place by the US FDA and the US Congress in order to realign the
visions towards a collective goal. However, experience shows that there is still much
more to be done in hopes of reaching the endpoint of safer healthcare practice and
overall affordable and accessible healthcare for our vulnerable populations. Today,
even with the presence of the FDA requirements (Figure 1), only around 50% of all
analgesics used in children are “approved” by the FDA for use in pediatrics.
Figure 1
Historical timeline of drug development milestones in the United States of America.
Note: Data from these studies.1–4
Grünenthal’s development of tapentadol for the pediatric population has shown very
promising safety and efficacy results – comparable to those found in the adult population.
By first using simulation models on known volume of distribution and clearance data,
an oral, weight-based tapentadol dose was predicted and used for subsequent pediatric
clinical trials. Using these models, Grünenthal then used the predicted oral formulation
dosing regimens and designed and executed studies that defined pharmacokinetics and
efficacy for their trial drug in children. In both single-blind and double-blind randomized
control studies, Grünenthal has been able to show short-term benefits of their new
pain medication in children. Confirmation of the short-term effects in the pediatric
population from these studies allow health care providers to prescribe the oral formulation
of tapentadol with confidence in its dose, predicted effects and potential side effects.6
9
In an ideal world, all drugs used in the pediatrics would have strong evidence-based
dosing regimens and appropriate drug labelling. History and current data tell us that
this vision has many challenges, ranging from simple financial considerations to complex
ethical hurdles, all of which have proven difficult to overcome. From the perspective
of patients and healthcare providers, maximizing efficacy while concurrently mitigating
side effects continues to be the main objective. From the view of the majority of
drug development companies, market share, profitability and their fiduciary responsibility
to shareholders drive corporate decision-making. In the type of political and economic
model that is found in the United States, governmental bodies can only do so much
to help bridge the two distinctive goals between the public and drug developers. At
some point, we hope that more drug companies, like Grünenthal, will make the difficult
but necessary decision to value patient safety and wellbeing of children over corporate
profits. Grünenthal has assumed the burden of providing well-designed studies in both
the adult and pediatric population to define safe prescription regimens, ideally,
before drugs go to market. In the world of pain medicine, this prospective approach
will be expected to lead to a reduction of inappropriate prescribing. This will benefit
not only the patient but may also reduce the opioid burden that is faced on an international
scale.