Pediatric Clinical Trials Conducted in South Korea from 2006 to 2015: An Analysis of the South Korean Clinical Research Information Service, US ClinicalTrials.gov and European Clinical Trials Registries

Abstract

Background

The status of pediatric clinical trials performed in South Korea in the last decade, including clinical trials of drugs with unapproved indications for children, has not been previously examined.

Objective

The aim was to provide information regarding the current state of pediatric clinical trials and create a basis for future trials performed in South Korea by reviewing three databases of clinical trials registrations.

Methods

We searched for pediatric clinical studies (participants <18 years old) conducted in South Korea between 2006 and 2015 registered on the Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS), ClinicalTrials.gov, and the European Clinical Trials Registry (EuCTR). Additionally, we reviewed whether unapproved indications were involved in each trial by comparing the trials with a list of authorized trials provided by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). The primary and secondary outcomes were to determine the change in number of pediatric clinical trials with unapproved indications over time and to assess the status of unauthorized pediatric clinical trials from the MFDS and the publication of articles after these clinical trials, respectively.

Results

We identified 342 clinical studies registered in the CRIS (n = 81), ClinicalTrials.gov (n = 225), and EuCTR (n = 36), of which 306 were reviewed after excluding duplicate registrations. Among them, 181 studies were interventional trials dealing with drugs and biological agents, of which 129 (71.3%) involved unapproved drugs. Of these 129 trials, 107 (82.9%) were authorized by the MFDS.

Conclusions

Pediatric clinical trials in South Korea aiming to establish the safety and efficacy of drugs in children are increasing; however, non-MFDS-authorized studies remain an issue.