From Meaningful Outcomes to Meaningful Change Thresholds: A Path to Progress for Establishing Digital Endpoints

This paper examines the use of digital endpoints (DEs) derived from digital health technologies (DHTs), focusing primarily on the specific considerations regarding the determination of meaningful change thresholds (MCT). Using DHTs in drug development is becoming more commonplace. There is general acceptance of the value of DHTs supporting patient-centric trial design, capturing data outside the traditional clinical trial setting, and generating DEs with the potential to be more sensitive to change than conventional assessments. However, the transition from exploratory endpoints to primary and secondary endpoints capable of supporting labeling claims requires these endpoints to be substantive with reproducible population-specific values. Meaningful change represents the amount of change in an endpoint measure perceived as important to patients and should be determined for each digital endpoint and given population under consideration. This paper examines existing approaches to determine meaningful change thresholds and explores examples of these methodologies and their use as part of DE development: emphasizing the importance of determining what aspects of health are important to patients and ensuring the DE captures these concepts of interest and aligns with the overarching endpoint strategy. Examples are drawn from published DE qualification documentation and responses to qualification submissions under review by the various regulatory authorities. It is the hope that these insights will inform and strengthen the development and validation of DEs as drug development tools, particularly for those new to the approaches to determine MCTs.