EU rules deny children latest cancer drugs

Children with cancer are being denied new, potentially life-saving drugs, because EU rules are allowing companies to trial some drugs only in adults, leading cancer experts warn. Changes to how EU rules are implemented could allow children access to a goldmine of potential cancer drugs which have only been tested in adults – by making it more difficult for pharma companies to avoid testing them in under-18s too. Under the current system, pharma companies often gain exemptions from carrying out expensive testing of cancer drugs in patients under the age of 18, even where a drug’s mechanism of action suggests