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, tuberculosis and antibiotics, demonstrating their potential and impact to accelerate access to optimal formulations in the context of fragmented, small markets for medicines for children.
WHO convened and facilitated a paediatric exercise for neglected tropical diseases to ensure that more targeted research and development efforts can address the specific needs of infants and children. These are schistosomiasis, human african trypanosomiasis (HAT), scabies, onchocerciasis and visceral leishmaniasis (VL).