In many rare and ultra-rare disease studies, sponsors do not have the luxury of choosing the countries or sites where the study will be conducted. Instead, they must use the sites where those patients are already being treated, regardless of geography. Additional protocol criteria – such as treatment-naïve patients or general prevalence of a disease...
Orphan drugs are medicinal products intended to treat diseases so rare that sponsors are reluctant to develop them under usual marketing conditions. Orphan drugs are a growing market, due in large part to tax incentives, longer periods of market exclusivity, and shorter, smaller clinical trials, as well as the premium pricing associated with many orphan...
Despite the inherently small market for orphan drugs, orphan drug development has recently undergone significant growth, with global sales of over $100 billion in 2015. In 2015, more than 20 new drugs were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and 18 new drugs were approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for...
Many orally available NSAIDs are being reformulated into topical formulations for the treatment of mild to moderate soft tissue pain. The use of topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is the preferred method for treating mild to moderate soft tissue injuries. Reducing the systemic exposure of NSAIDs should reduce the chances of gastrointestinal (GI) and cardiovascular...
Ensuring the integrity of your surrogate endpoints Rare disease studies present unique obstacles to drug developers, including small patient populations, slow disease progression, lack of prior clinical research, and uncertainty around validating biomarker measurements intended for use as surrogate endpoints. Our white paper describes a fit-for-purpose approach to validating bioanalytical methods in orphan drug trials....
While drug discovery has seen major advances over the last few years — especially in the domain of rare disease research — the number of new drug approvals has not kept pace with increasing development costs. However, the innovative use of biomarkers has the potential to change that trend. Biomarkers in Rare Disease Research Biomarkers are objectively measurable characteristics...
Central nervous system (CNS) disorders are a diverse group of conditions that include psychiatric, neurological and substance abuse disorders. Unfortunately for patients, treatment options for CNS disorders are often limited (or non-existent). To make matters worse, comparatively few CNS drugs are in the development pipeline. What aspects of CNS disorders contribute to lagging drug development? Read on to...
A rare disease, also referred to as an orphan disease, by definition affects a small percentage of the population. Most are genetic and appear early in life, with one in three children with a rare disease dying before their fifth birthday. While the definition of “rare” varies from country to country, the US defines a rare disease as...
A rare cancer is often defined as one with an incidence of less than 15 per 100,000. The patient populations of these conditions are so small that traditional clinical trial design strategies can be unfeasible. But, with such a low incidence, just why is rare oncology research so important? Why Rare Oncology Needs Innovation Keep in mind...
A target product profile (TPP) is a strategic process tool that streamlines medical device development through cross-functional strategic alignment. It’s a living document that defines the value proposition and key differentiators of an intended commercial product while assisting in product development strategy. A TPP may take a lot of time and resources to craft, but it’s a strategy that promises a major...