The UK Medicines For Children Research Network, which launches next month, has been set up because most medicines used to treat children are designed for adults and not properly tested on young people.
The network aims to set up a raft of local research centres nationwide with increased involvement from children in testing and through consumer panels to gain views on issues such as flavour and appearance.
The National Children's Bureau is one of the bodies involved in the network and is taking the lead in training medical research staff at a local level to better involve children and parents.
The NCB is also looking at ways of involving children and parents in the setting up and operation of centres and has created a consumer liaison officer role to manage this. NCB director of research Ruth Sinclair said: "What we want to do is make sure children are involved at all stages of the process. It is fair to say that their involvement has been lacking so far."
The network is being led by the University of Liverpool in partnership with the Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust (Alder Hey).
Rosalind Smyth, director of the network's co-ordinating centre and professor of paediatric medicine at the university, said child involvement in drug research currently took place in just half of cases.
She said: "The aim is to involve children in the research process. Using their input is the best way to develop these drugs."
Dr Warren Lenney, consultant respiratory paediatrician at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, said the involvement of children in research had been neglected because it raised costs significantly.
Pharmaceutical companies thought it was not cost-effective, he said, while regulatory authorities had also expressed concerns around issues of consent.
Imperial College, London, the Liverpool Women's Hospital and The National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford are also involved in the network. Its 20m grant runs for five years and forms part of the Department of Health's paediatric medicines strategy.
Drugs for meningitis, asthma, epilepsy and migraines are key areas the network will examine.
