Last week, we discussed the high placebo response that plagues neuroscience clinical trials. Today we turn to another common challenge: patient recruitment. We’ll take a look at three strategies that can be used to improve trial participation: the use of several patient sources when recruiting a focus on patient-centric solutions the use of patient recruitment...
Neuroscience clinical trials, especially those for psychiatry and analgesia indications, have always had to deal with the challenge of high placebo response. Most troubling is that the placebo response rate seems to be on the rise, at least in the U.S. Bigger placebo responses make it harder to show that an experimental treatment is...
Most early-stage biotechnology companies have limited resources and manpower. As a result, early-stage biotechs conducting randomized clinical trial research often need a CRO’s help to deliver the quality data required to make their ideas and theories achieve practical purpose. In addition, engaging a CRO with a depth of strategic expertise early in the planning process...
With billions of neurons, the brain is the most complex organ in the body, so it’s not surprising that neuroscience clinical trials—more so than trials in other medical specialties—face major challenges, both conceptual and practical. In this new blog series, we’ll look at the challenges sponsors face when operationalizing clinical trials and share lessons from...
The marketplace for orphan drugs is growing, and changes in the regulatory landscape are providing favorable conditions for collaboration in the area of drug development in rare diseases. Understanding the regulatory and operational nuances of orphan drug development can help sponsors position their promising compounds for clinical and commercial success. Today more than ever, researchers...
Measuring, interpreting, and mitigating placebo response is a persistent and growing challenge in analgesia clinical trials. In the conclusion of our Premier Voices podcast series on the placebo problem, Paul Mirek, Marketing Manager, and Michael Kuss, BS, Vice President, Analgesia Product Development, examine experimental trial designs, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and other approaches to managing the...
The placebo effect’s impact on drug development is widely known, but you may be surprised to learn that the word “placebo” has had multiple meanings — all of them pejorative — going back hundreds of years. Scott Millard, Premier Research’s Executive Director for Strategic Development and Analgesia, explores the role of placebos in the...
Patient registries and natural history studies are vital tools for orphan drug researchers, who often struggle with limited understanding of diseases and sparse data due to small patient numbers. In the second installment of the Premier Voices podcast with Angi Robinson, Vice President, Clinical Development Services, Rare Disease & Pediatrics, and Juliet Moritz, we...
Traditionally, phase 1 oncology trials have relied on a standard 3+3 dose escalation design to achieve the objective of defining a recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D). However, statistical simulations have shown that as few as one in three trials using the 3+3 design succeed in identifying the maximum tolerated dose.[1] Concerns have also been raised...
It’s hard to fault fibromyalgia patients for feeling ignored and underserved. For years, many health professionals doubted and discounted their symptoms, even labeling them as malingerers. Physicians and researchers cannot easily or directly observe fibromyalgia’s manifestations, but must rely on patient reports of pain and a range of other symptoms. What’s more, no clear biomarkers...