Paediatric drug optimization for COVID-19

Overview

Paediatric drug optimization (PADO) exercises aim to identify key priority products and their preferred product characteristics for research and development. These have been successfully undertaken for HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis, demonstrating their potential and impact to accelerate access to optimal formulations in the context of fragmented, small markets for medicines for children.

To address the remaining research gaps that hinder the availability of appropriate therapeutics for children with COVID-19, WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme and Science Division convened and facilitated Paediatric drug optimization (PADO) for COVID-19 exercise to ensure that research and development efforts in this field target a priority list of therapeutics and ensure that children with COVID-19 can also rapidly benefit from safe, effective and accessible treatment options.