Between 7 and 10 percent of the U.S. population suffers from some type of neuropathic pain, and a significant share of those affected require chronic pain treatment.[1] This high rate of occurrence makes our limited understanding of these afflictions, and the long search for effective treatments, all the more frustrating. Treating neuropathic pain starts with...
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that strikes its victims in the prime of their lives. Most available treatments have remained largely unchanged for years, with Levodopa the “gold standard” for treating Parkinson’s disease for nearly 50 years, with only marginal advances in improving the drug’s efficacy. It also only targets the symptoms, not...
Use of long-acting injectable antipsychotics is often reserved for patients with chronic or treatment-refractory schizophrenia or repeated non-compliance issues. However, recent studies have consistently found a role for these treatments both soon after diagnosis and in the treatment of chronic disease. A severe and often debilitating neurodevelopmental disorder, schizophrenia affects a person’s ability to think...
A recurring challenge in assessing and treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is the inherently complex, ill-defined, and sometimes downright puzzling nature of its symptoms. The condition has had many names over the years. Among them: shell shock, combat exhaustion, irritable heart, and even nostalgia. The affliction, now widely know as post-traumatic stress disorder, was...
Dementia is a global epidemic, affecting nearly 50 million people worldwide. By 2050, it’s estimated that 115 million people will suffer from some form of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia occurring late in life. AD is also the only condition among the leading causes of death that cannot currently be...
Global clinical trials are projected to exhibit a compound annual growth rate of 12.4 percent and reach revenues of $57 billion by 2020, according to a recent report by Frost & Sullivan.[1] As the cost and complexity of drug development continue to increase, the Asia Pacific (APAC) region is a key destination for the conduct...
We were reviewing a study protocol for a maker of medical devices, and there was one provision that just didn’t make sense. The sponsor specified a need for regular data monitoring committee meetings, but we didn’t see the need and couldn’t justify the effort. It was a short study involving few sites. In all likelihood,...
Advances in medical technology have opened the door for dermatology mobile health (mHealth) programs, and these same technologies have the potential to radically change dermatology trial designs. Here are four ways digital disruption in the dermatology field is benefiting both patients and providers: 1. Reduced wait times: Digital health assessments make time spent scheduling, traveling,...
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...
Put yourself in this scenario: Your compound is a newly validated mutated receptor that is present in only a limited number of cancer patients, and there is no approved diagnostic test. Your product, an antibody-like molecule that inhibits the receptor’s activity, also stimulates a potent immune response. Further complicating things, much of the preclinical data...