Clinical research certainly has evolved over the past three decades. There are more trials crossing a broader spectrum of indications, and advances in study design and execution have dramatically changed the way drugs and medical devices are evaluated and sold. But perhaps no change has been more significant than the growth in engagement on the...
Finding patients for trials in very rare conditions is difficult under any circumstances, and in this case the odds were really stacked high against success. The indication: a basal cell carcinoma known as Gorlin syndrome, a disease that manifests itself in large numbers of benign tumors that grow on various parts of the body. The...
This episode, we’re proud to share the first part of our conversation with Alan Thomas, patient advocate and founder of Ataxia & Me, ahead of International Ataxia Awareness Day on September 25. Alan talks about his personal journey with ataxia and how he first got started with patient awareness. Follow Alan and Ataxia & Me...
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...
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...
The inaugural edition of Premier Voices focuses on rare oncology drug development and takes a looks at: Using adaptive design to limit patient exposure to ineffective treatments and increase the overall likelihood of success Making the most of small and geographically dispersed patient populations Dealing with limitations such as a lack of defined biomarkers and baseline...
To achieve operational excellence in gene therapy trials, sponsors must understand – and overcome – obstacles ranging from start-up regulations and site selection to patient recruitment and retention. Gene therapy holds promise for treating a wide range of diseases, from cancer and diabetes to rare genetic disorders. It has also sparked great interest because it...
It’s been 46 years since researchers Theodore Friedmann and Richard Roblin published a landmark paper in the journal Science that posed a provocative question: “Gene therapy for human genetic disease?” And while clinical trials for gene therapy drugs have become much more common in the past 20 years — more than 2,400 had been conducted...
Between navigating relatively uncharted territory and the practical limitations of most gene therapy delivery systems, ensuring successful clinical trials of these products is a serious challenge for even the most experienced researchers. Compounding this is the long-term nature of most gene therapy trials — it’s not unusual to have follow-up periods of a decade or more....
Like any new medical product, gene therapies must undergo rigorous approval processes. However, there are a number of additional regulations for gene therapies that don’t apply to conventional pharmaceuticals. This is especially true within the European Union. (It’s important to note that while most gene therapy studies are based in the U.S. and Europe — which...