Drug development is an extremely cumbersome process, requiring the testing of an agent from in vitro studies to in vivo studies to in silico modeling. Given that it can take up to 20 years for a final product to be approved, it is unsurprising that drug...
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The use of placebo control in clinical trials has long been a topic of spirited debate. Proponents maintain that placebo control is necessary for proving the safety and efficacy of investigational products. Critics argue that use of placebo sacrifices patient...
Dermatology clinical research is undergoing a rapid transformation in response to new demands for clinical trials that are more justifiable, safer, and less burdensome for patients. In dermatology, a patient-focused approach can be applied to all phases of the research...
Skin diseases are the fourth leading cause of health afflictions, affecting nearly 900 million people worldwide.1,2 At the same time, there has been a remarkable increase in dermatology drug development activity in recent years. For conditions such as atopic dermatitis,...
Comparing Orphan Drug, Rare Pediatric Disease, and Humanitarian Use Device Designations The FDA offers sponsors a variety of special programs to incentivize development of therapies to treat unmet patient needs, including fast track, breakthrough therapy, and qualified infectious disease product designations. This blog...
Though gene therapy has been around for decades, it continues to pose extraordinary challenges in the areas of R&D, clinical development, and operation of clinical trials. Sponsors and CROs face shifting operational and regulatory demands amid rapid advances in the...
Designing and conducting a gene therapy trial is a complex undertaking. Understanding, planning for, and overcoming the myriad challenges of operationalizing these studies will help you bring safe, breakthrough treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. In this blog post,...
In the first half of 2020, as a direct consequence of the ongoing pandemic, China issued a ban on the export of non-human primates (NHPs), including those used for pharmaceutical research. As this affected COVID-19 research, the NIH later issued a Notice of...
As scientific knowledge, clinical experience, and acceptance of gene therapy products have evolved, so have the regulatory frameworks for ensuring the safety of these novel treatments. To date, there is no harmonized international standard for regulating gene therapy products; however,...
Rare cancers account for 27 percent of all new cancer diagnoses in the U.S. and 22 percent of all new cancer diagnoses in the EU.1 With their poorly understood natural histories, phenotypic heterogeneity, and diverse clinical manifestations, rare cancers pose challenges...