In such a scenario, “the development of a tailored oral chelator for children”- as explained by Prof. Ceci – “responds to a still unmet need in the treatment of haemoglobinopathies, including thalassaemia, which require chronic blood transfusions and, therefore, iron chelation”.

Prof. Della Pasqua clarified the innovative approaches, implemented to overcome sensitive issues and ethical concerns about the conduct of trials in small children, which have led to the development of a Pharmacokinetic study aimed at determining the appropriate dosing requirements in children below six years of age.

The achievement of the project objectives, as explained by Dr. Bonifazi, was made possible thanks to the joint collaboration of experts in the field of thalassaemia, haematology, paediatric clinical trial design and management, regulatory and ethics, who gathered together to form a network of research institutions, clinical centres and patients associations from both European and non-European countries.

In conclusion, Prof. El Beshlawy highlighted that, as reported by a recent cost-utility analysis “deferiprone still represents the most cost-effective treatment available for managing chronic iron overload patients”, if compared to the other available chelators, thus resulting in a more easily accessible, safe and efficacious treatment with substantial cost savings for health services.

A group interview featuring appeared in Issue 162 of the International Innovation magazine with contributions by Dr. Donato Bonifazi, Prof. Adriana Ceci, Prof. Oscar Della Pasqua and Prof. Amal El Beshlawy.

Courtesy of International Innovation – a leading scientific dissemination service.

The European Commission featured the DEEP Project in Issue #34 of the research*eu results magazine. With Prof. Ceci answering the editorial staff’s questions, the article focuses on the achievements of the project studies in the past three years, which led to a new formulation of deferiprone with a better taste suitable for children, as well as valuable data on the correct dosage to be administered for each age group.

The lessons learned so far? ‘The project takes advantage of the participation of private pharmaceutical companies experienced in developing medicinal products and making them available on the market. Without such collaboration it would be unlikely that the drug would be distributed to all children in need. The lesson learned is that public and private efforts should (and can) be brought together to address the patients’ best interest.’

The magazine can be found online here, and this specific issue can be downloaded here.

research*eu results features highlights from the most exciting EU-funded research and development projects. It is published 10 times per year in English, and covers:

•    Biology and medicine
•    Social sciences and humanities
•    Energy and transport
•    Environment and society
•    IT and telecommunications
•    Industrial technologies
•    Space

The article includes an interview to Prof. Ceci and presents the booklets with age-tailored information that complete the DEEP informative package for patients. Such informative material will “boost their pride” and “satisfy their curiosity”. And it is “fundamental for success”, wherever research involves children.

An interview with Scientific Coordinator Professor Adriana Ceci was published with the title “Talassemia: farmaci a misura di bambino” on May 20, 2013 on the web portal Ricerca&Medicina, dedicated to Italian medicine projects funded under the Seventh Framework Programme of the EU with the aim to raise awareness on the project objectives and activities.

On May 16th 2013 a dedicated webpage on the DEEP Project was published on HorizonHealth.eu, an initiative by CommHERE which aim is to improve communication on the outcome of EU funded health research projects to the general public and the media. “Developing drugs for children: children are not small adults”, said Scientific Coordinator of the DEEP Project Prof. Adriana Ceci. The dedicated section describes the project, its importance and objectives in brief. See here for more details.