In early 2019, we launched the CureSearch IMPACT Series, a first-of-its-kind approach to accelerating the pace of pediatric drug development by driving earlier collaboration between global academics and pharma in the drug development process.
For many reasons, the current drug development process enters adults in a clinical trial first, and it isn’t until Phase 2 that data is shared, and a pediatric focus can be considered – a timeline that puts the discovery process for pediatrics 6.5 years behind adults. To address this, the IMPACT Series Forums encourage a paradigm-shift, bringing the experts together to establish the relationships and collaborations necessary to shift pediatrics into early-stage drug development faster.
“The IMPACT Series Forums provide objective and constructive input towards science-driven study designs and create a united front when engaging with regulatory authorities.”
– Davy Chiodin, Former VP Regulatory Science, Acerta Pharma, a member of the AstraZeneca Group
Each confidential IMPACT Series Forum brings a small group of hand-selected international pediatric academics together with one pharmaceutical partner to review their confidential drug development pipeline. This early insight provided in the Forum allows researchers to learn what drugs are currently being developed for adults that might also be effective for children, and to align their research much earlier in the development process to bring new treatments to kids faster.
CureSearch will host 3-4 IMPACT Series Forums throughout a calendar year, partnering with academic experts, pharmaceutical companies and drug development leaders.
“It would have taken me six-months to have one-on-one meetings with each academic, and I would have walked away with half of the information I learned today.”
– AstraZeneca lead attending the inaugural Impact Series Forum
How to get involved
If you are a researcher or pharmaceutical company interested in participating in a future IMPACT Series Forum, contact Chris Riley, National Director of Corporate Healthcare Partnerships, to learn more.
Read more about the inaugural IMPACT Series Forum with AstraZeneca here »