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Adaptive phase 2/3 designs for oncology drug development - Time to hedge
1Biostatistics and Research Decision Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
Abstract:
Randomized-controlled Phase 2 trials are routinely skipped in oncology drug development in favor of directly going to confirmatory Phase 3 after signal-detection post dose-finding in Phase 1. With improved standard-of-care, this speed-oriented aggressive approach is not sustainable. It is time to apply the state-of-art adaptive 2-in-1 Phase 2/3 designs to mitigate the risk of costly Phase 3 failures and allow a study to choose the optimal path to success.
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