Juvenile Nonclinical Safety Studies in Support of Pediatric Drug Development.

A pediatric assessment is now a required component of every drug marketing application in North America, Europe, and Japan, unless a waiver has been granted previously. Nonclinical juvenile toxicity studies are often required as part of this assessment. The protocols for juvenile toxicity studies are best devised in consultation with the regulatory authorities.

Reporting of teratology studies.

The regulatory toxicology report is an unusual document that requires a particular skill to write. The report must be clear, accurate, concise, and focused. A clear and direct writing style is required.

The teratology testing of cosmetics.

In Europe, the developmental toxicity testing (including teratogenicity) of new cosmetic ingredients is performed according to the Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC: only alternatives leading to full replacement of animal experiments should be used. This chapter presents the three scientifically validated animal alternative methods for the assessment of embryotoxicity: the embryonic stem cell test (EST), the micromass (MM) assay, and the whole embryo culture (WEC) assay.

Developmental toxicity testing of vaccines.

Preventative and therapeutic vaccines are increasingly used during pregnancy and present special considerations for developmental toxicity testing. The various components of the vaccine formulation (i.e.

The teratology testing of food additives.

The developmental and reproductive toxicity testing (including teratogenicity) of new foods and food additives is performed worldwide according to the guidelines given in the FDA Redbook. These studies are not required for substances that are generally recognized as safe, according to the FDA inventory. The anticipated cumulated human exposure level above which developmental or reproduction studies are required depends on the structure-alert category.

Preclinical evaluation of juvenile toxicity.

A pediatric assessment is now a required component of every New Drug Application in North America or Marketing Authorization Application in Europe, unless a waiver has been granted previously. Nonclinical juvenile toxicity studies are usually required as part of this assessment. The protocols for juvenile toxicity studies are devised in consultation with the FDA or EMEA.

Reproductive toxicity testing for pharmaceuticals under ICH.

Reproductive toxicity testing of drugs is performed as a 2- or 3-segment package. The choice of species for routine studies with small molecule drugs is essentially limited to the rat, rabbit, mouse and minipig. The lack of alternative species is a threat to the successful screening of drugs for teratogenicity.

Juvenile toxicity of cyclosporin in the rat.

The pups from 32 litters of SD rats were given 0, 1, 3 or 10mg/kg-d of cyclosporin by oral gavage from 4 to 28 days of age. 10mg/kg-d resulted in a persistent impairment of the primary antibody response at 10 weeks of age. Indications of systemic toxicity, including the death of 10/64 pups and severely depressed weight gain, were also observed at this dose level.

Developmental immunotoxicity investigations in the SD rat following pre- and post-natal exposure to cyclosporin.

Background: The development and function of the immune system was assessed in juvenile SD rats following pre- or post-natal exposure to cyclosporin. The main objective was to assess the feasibility of the methods available for the detection of adverse effects on the development of the immune system for use in the safety assessment of medicines.

Methods: In a pre-natal experiment, 15 pregnant rats were given 10 mg/kg/day of cyclosporin by gavage from day 6 of gestation until 4 days after parturition.

Immune assessments in developmental and juvenile toxicology: practical considerations for the regulatory safety testing of pharmaceuticals.

The developing organism is considered to be more sensitive than the adult to immunotoxic agents. There is every reason, therefore, to include immune assessments in the regulatory testing for developmental toxicity of drugs that are intended to be used in young patients or pregnant woman. An effective strategy would be to incorporate immune assessments in the existing recommendations on pre- and post-natal toxicity study in the rat from the International Conference on Harmonisation.

Reproductive toxicity testing of vaccines.

Vaccines play a major role in the prevention of human birth defects by protecting the pregnant woman from teratogenic or otherwise harmful infections. Until now, it has not been common practice to perform preclinical developmental toxicity tests for new vaccines. Despite the excellent safety record of vaccines, increased attention is now being given to the feasibility of screening new vaccines for developmental hazards in animals before their use in humans.

Reproductive toxicology studies and immunotherapeutics.

There are many ways in which immunotherapeutic agents could potentially cause developmental toxicity. According to the published data in humans and animals, however, this class of drugs does not appear to present any increased risk of reproductive toxicity by comparison with other therapeutic classes. The basic testing strategy outlined in the ICH guidelines is suitable for the preclinical reproductive toxicity assessment of these drugs (except vaccines).