Objectives: There is a pressing need for drug development in pediatric ulcerative colitis (UC). Lack of scientific consensus on efficacy endpoints and disease outcome assessments presents a hurdle for global drug development in pediatric UC. Scientists from 4 regulatory agencies convened an International Inflammatory Bowel Disease Working Group (i-IBD Working Group) to harmonize present thinking about various aspects of drug development in pediatric UC globally.
Methods: The i-IBD Working Group was convened in 2012 by scientists from the US Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency, Health Canada, and the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency of Japan. The members of this group considered reasons for differences in their acceptance of efficacy endpoints and disease activity indices used in pediatric UC, reviewed the available literature, and developed consensus opinions regarding approaches for evaluating outcomes in pediatric UC trials.
Results: There is lack of harmonization in using efficacy endpoint and outcome assessments including disease activity indices to assess clinical benefit in pediatric UC trials. Many disease activity indices have been developed, but their biometric properties, such as responsiveness, reliability, and validity, have not been properly validated. Biomarkers, such as fecal calprotectin and lactoferrin, are being investigated for their potential as noninvasive surrogate endpoints in UC.
Conclusions: Consensus on the efficacy endpoints, disease activity indices, and outcome assessments is needed for globalization of pediatric UC trials. The i-IBD Working Group offers several perspectives to facilitate harmonization across regions. The development of noninvasive biomarkers as reliable surrogate endpoints needs to be explored further.