TL;DR
For most of history, how tall a child grew was simply fate. A new class of drugs now reaches into the growth plates, the cartilage zones near the ends of bones where height is made, and turns up their signal to grow. Two are already sold as shots for achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, and the first daily pill faces an FDA decision on Feb. 4, 2027. In those children the drugs add a bit under an inch of growth a year. The bigger question is whether they could ever help ordinary short kids, and the only trial testing that has published nothing yet. Nobody has shown these drugs change final adult height, and none works once growth plates close.
Below the line, for paid subscribers: The full story: where it stands, how we got here and what's dated next; our Odds board on 5 milestones, starting with "The FDA approves oral infigratinib for achondroplasia by 2027"; our labeled speculation on what it adds up to; and every source.