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Shajila Siricilla, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, and Jennifer Herington, Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics, led a team that systematically screened 1,191 FDA-approved drugs and found that several candidates met criteria supporting further evaluation as potential treatments for preterm labor.

"Rather than starting with entirely new drugs, we asked whether medicines that are already FDA-approved for other conditions might have previously unrecognized effects on the uterus," said Siricilla, the study's lead author.

The investigators said preterm labor occurs when the uterus begins contracting too early in pregnancy, noting that there are currently no FDA-approved medications in the United States specifically for stopping these contractions. FDA-approved drugs used off-label—or prescribed for a use other than what they have been approved for—can delay delivery, but their use is often limited by side effects to the mother or fetus.

"Our findings do not mean that these drugs are ready to be used clinically for preterm labor; rather, they identify promising candidates for further development and demonstrate a systematic strategy for finding potentially safer and more effective treatments among medicines that already exist," said Herington, the study's corresponding author.

Drugs were screened based on their ability to inhibit uterine muscle activity, preferentially affect uterine rather than vascular smooth muscle, and meet additional safety and efficacy criteria. Drug repurposing is particularly attractive because these medicines already have substantial information available about their pharmacology and clinical use, the investigators said.

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