Practical Considerations for Adaptive Trial Design and Implementation

Weili He is a Director and Senior Principle Scientist of Clinical Biostatistics at Merck & Co., Inc. She has a Ph.D. degree in biostatistics. She has extensive experience in drug development, and has worked in many therapeutic areas over the years. Dr. He has been active both at Merck and in industry for initiatives relating to adaptive trials, with particular focus on adaptive trial design and implementation.  She is a core member of the DIA Adaptive Design Scientific Working Group (ADSWG) and co-chair of the DIA ADSWG KOL Lecture series. Her research and collaboration with colleagues in various disciplines has led to over 30 publications in statistical and medical journals.   José Pinheiro has a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, having worked at Bell Labs and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, before his current position as Head of Statistical Modeling in the Model-Based Drug Development department at Janssen Research & Development. He has been involved in methodological development in various areas of statistics and drug development, including dose-finding, adaptive designs and mixed-effects models. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, former co-chair of the PhRMA working group on Adaptive Dose-Ranging Studies, former core member of the PhRMA working group on Novel Adaptive Designs and co-developer of the nlme library/package in S-PLUS and R for linear and non-linear mixed-effects models.Olga Kuznetsova is a Senior Principal Scientist in the Late Development Statistics department of Merck & Co., Inc. She has a PhD in probability theory and mathematical statistics and more than 15 years of experience in clinical trials. In the last decade, her research interests centered around randomization techniques in clinical trials, in particular, addressing the randomization needs of adaptive design trials. Her collaboration with colleagues on randomization issuesresulted in more than 20 presentations and publications.

• Preface.- The Need for and the Future of Adaptive Designs in Clinical Development.- Regulatory Guidance Documents on Adaptive Designs: an Industry Perspective.- A Commentary on the U.S. FDA Adaptive Design Draft Guidance and EMA Reflection Paper from a Regulatory Perspective and Regulatory Experiences.- Considerations and optimization of adaptive trial design in clinical development programs.- Optimal Cost-effective Go-No Go Decisions in Clinical Development.- Timing and frequency of interim analyses in confirmatory trials.- Approaches for optimal dose selection for adaptive design trials.- A Review of Available Software and Capabilities for Adaptive Designs.- Randomization Challenges in Adaptive Design Studies.- Response-adaptive randomization for clinical trials.- Implementing Adaptive Designs: Operational Considerations, Putting it all together.- Implementation Issues in Adaptive Design Trials.- Implementing Adaptive Designs; Using Technology to Protect Trial Integrity, Reduce Operational Bias, and Build Regulatory Trust.- Considerations for Interim Analyses in Adaptive Trials, and Perspectives on the Use of DMCs.- Approaches for Clinical Supply Modelling and Simulation.- Approaches for Patient Recruitment Modeling and Simulation.- A case study for adaptive trial design consideration and implementation.- Design Considerations for a Phase Ib Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, 4-Period Cross-over Adaptive Dose-Finding Clinical Trial.- Continual Reassessment Method for a First-In-Human Trial: From Design to Trial Implementation.- Practical Considerations for a Two-Stage Confirmatory Adaptive Clinical Trial Design and its Implementation: ADVENT Trial.

From the book reviews: "The target audience is anyone with an interest in planning and executing clinical trials. This includes statisticians, clinicians, pharmacometricians, clinical operation specialists, drug supply managers, and infrastructure providers working in academic research organizations, government, or industry. ... This is a high quality book, written by contributors who are authorities in the field of adaptive trial design. It is an excellent addition to this field and fills a significant void." (Ashraf Khaled AbuSara, Doody's Book Reviews, January, 2015)