The Fastest Path to Effective COVID-19 Treatments: Using Master Protocol Studies

JANUARY 13, 2021

CTTI Project: Clinical Trial Issues Related to COVID-19

Meeting Overview:

CTTI hosted The Fastest Path to Effective COVID-19 Treatments: Using Master Protocol Studies Public Summit on Wed., Jan. 13. The summit, conducted as a webinar and moderated by Pamela Tenaerts, CTTI, included a welcome from Janet Woodcock, Operation Warp Speed; a call-to-action from Robert M. Califf, Verily and Google Health; and panel discussions moderated by Ester Krofah, FasterCures, and Mark McClellan, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. The panel focused on solutions related to scaling master protocols, including:

  • Overcoming barriers to starting up sites
  • Increasing participants at existing sites
  • Using the COVID experience to inform our preparedness for future pandemics

The public summit also addressed the status of COVID-19 clinical trials, including results from a recent CTTI analysis of data from ClinicalTrials.gov and findings of a pre-summit survey that offered best practices and insights from those involved in COVID-19 treatment master protocols, specifically those setting up new sites and recruiting participants at existing sites.

This public summit is part of a collaborative effort with the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University and FasterCures, a Center of the Milken Institute.

Meeting Location:

Virtual Meeting

Meeting Agenda

The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the individual presenter and should not be attributed to the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative, or any organization with which the presenter is employed or affiliated.

The Use of Antibacterial Drugs Developed via Streamlined Approaches for Serious Infections Where There is Unmet Need: Understanding Patient and Physician Perspectives and Considerations to Take Forward

MARCH 01, 2016

CTTI Project: Unmet Need

Meeting Objectives

  • Present perspectives from patients, caregivers and physicians on antibacterial drugs developed using streamlined approaches
  • Identify focus group themes and discuss topics which should be further explored or where draft recommendations could be made
  • Obtain feedback to improve labeling, risk communication, public understanding and stewardship

Meeting Location:

Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel, Silver Spring, MD

The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the individual presenter and should not be attributed to the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative, or any organization with which the presenter is employed or affiliated.

Statistical Issues Think Tank II

NOVEMBER 19, 2014

CTTI Project: Unmet Need

Meeting Objectives

  • To provide an update on the current status of statistical methodologies for the design and analysis of antibacterial drugs
  • To discuss ongoing challenges in the development and adoption of innovative methods
  • To generate strategies to propel antibacterial drug development forward.

Meeting Location:

Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, Bethesda, MD

Meeting Presentations:

Session 1: Current status of drug development and ongoing challenges

Session 2: Current research and additional opportunities for the future

The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the individual presenter and should not be attributed to the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative, or any organization with which the presenter is employed or affiliated.

Obtaining Novel Endpoint Reliability and Acceptance Expert Meeting

The views and opinions expressed in these presentations are those of the individual presenter and should not be attributed to the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative, or any organization with which the presenter is employed or affiliated.

CTTI Antibacterial Drug Development: Statistical Issues Think Tank Meeting

AUGUST 20, 2012

CTTI Project: Unmet Need

Meeting Background:

A CTTI-hosted Statistical Issues Think Tank Meeting was convened to provide an opportunity for leading experts in clinical trial methodologies to discuss alternative approaches to design and analysis that may be useful for antibacterial drug development programs.

Meeting Location:

Bethesda Hyatt Regency, Bethesda, MD

Meeting Presentation:

CTTI Statistics Think Tank for Anti-Bacterial Drug Development by Lisa LaVange

Resulting Publications:

1) Hierarchical nested trial design (HNTD) for demonstrating treatment efficacy of new antibacterial drugs in patient populations with emerging bacterial resistance

On June 23, 2014, Statistics in Medicine published an article by Huque et al. that describes a novel clinical trial model to address the increased prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. This paper resulted from the CTTI-hosted Statistical Issues Think Tank Meeting that author Mohammad Huque attended.

2) The Role of Statistics in Regulatory Decision Making

In February, 2014, this peer-reviewed article was published in Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science. This paper resulted from the CTTI-hosted Statistical Issues Think Tank Meeting where author Lisa M. LaVange, PhD, attended and presented. In this publication, LaVange concludes:

This article presents the author’s view of the important role that statisticians play in regulatory decision making, beginning with a broad overview of current office initiatives, including the development of guidance documents and a recent push for open and transparent collaboration with industry on methods development. Several recent examples are provided to illustrate the impact that statisticians can have on regulatory decisions through the use of strategic quantitative thinking. Also discussed are areas where it is believed that innovative statistical solutions or greater clarity on existing approaches is still needed.

3) Bayesian approach to the design and analysis of non-inferiority trials for anti-infective products

On August 5, 2013, the Journal of Pharmaceutical Statistics published an article by Gamalo et al. that describes a Bayesian approach for the design and analysis of active comparator trials used in the development and market approval of antibacterial drugs. This work was presented in part at the CTTI-hosted Statistical Issues Think Tank Meeting.

“The CTTI Statistics Think Tank, a collaborative initiative with the FDA/CDER Anti-Bacterial Drug Development Task Force, was held in August, 2012 and provided an excellent opportunity for leading statisticians from academia, government, and industry to discuss innovative approaches for accelerating the development of new antibiotics. This article presents a comprehensive Bayesian approach to non-inferiority trials and represents but one of several approaches that were discussed at the Statistics Think Tank meeting. We look forward to additional research being published from the ideas generated at that meeting.” said Lisa LaVange Director of Biostatistics, Food and Drug Administration.

The Bayesian approach may allow for use of information from sources that include observational studies and early phase trials on the effect of the active comparator for study design. This approach may aid in reducing large sample size requirements and decrease study durations for antibacterial agents that enter late-stage clinical development.

The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the individual presenter and should not be attributed to the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative, or any organization with which the presenter is employed or affiliated.

Anti-Bacterial Drug Development: Issues in the Design of Trials in Patients with Unmet Need and in Patients with Hospital-Acquired and Ventilator Associated Bacterial Pneumonia

OCTOBER 11, 2012 TO OCTOBER 12, 2012

CTTI Project: ABDD Unmet Need

Meeting Background:

With rising antibiotic resistance becoming an issue of global concern, the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) convened a 2-day Antibacterial Drug Development Workshop on October 11-12, 2012 in Crystal City, VA. The workshop is part of a series of expert meetings to explore approaches for accelerating the development of new antibacterial drugs. The two topics of focus for this meeting were exploring a new paradigm for antibacterial drug development in areas of unmet need, and for the treatment of patients with pneumonia that develops in the hospital or while on a ventilator.  This workshop followed a think tank on statistical issues that was held on August 20, 2012, in Bethesda, MD, also hosted by CTTI.

There is an urgent need to develop new antibacterial drugs to treat patients with infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to available antibiotics.  Antibiotic resistance has been increasing, creating an unmet public health need.  This workshop was held in collaboration with FDA’s newly formed Antibacterial Drug Development Task Force within the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).

The purpose of the workshop was to understand the challenges in the development of new antibacterial drugs for the treatment of patients with unmet medical need (e.g., patients with multi-drug resistant bacterial infections, who have limited or no options for treatment) and to identify potential solutions that would accelerate the drug development process.  Novel endpoints and possible solutions to challenges in trial design for the development of new antibacterial drugs that treat patients with hospital-acquired or ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (HABP and VABP) were also explored. A broad range of stakeholders participated in the meeting, including experts from academic institutions, hospitals, pharmaceutical industry, government, and patient advocacy groups.

“The workshop provided an excellent opportunity to discuss new development pathways for antibiotic drugs targeting infections for which we urgently need new antibiotic therapies.  Our collaboration with CTTI on this work is part of the CDER Antibacterial Drug Development Task Force’s efforts to accelerate the development of new antibiotics to address critical patient needs”, said Edward Cox, MD, Director of the CDER’s Office of Antimicrobial Products.

Meeting Objectives:

The goal of the first day of the workshop was to define potential pathways and explore new paradigms to accelerate the development of new antibacterial drugs that would address unmet medical need, including discussing acceptable levels of uncertainty related to the risks and benefits of such treatments. The second day focused on issues in clinical trial design including endpoints and operational efficiencies specific to the development of antibacterial drugs for treating patients with hospital-acquired or ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (HABP/VABP).

Meeting Location:

Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, VA

Meeting Presentations:

The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the individual presenter and should not be attributed to the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative, or any organization with which the presenter is employed or affiliated.

Identifying Best Practices for Conducting Clinical Trials with the New FDA Guidance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

CTTI Project: Clinical Trials Issues Related to COVID-19

 

Webinar Presenters:

  • David Borasky (WIRB-Copernicus Group)
  • Sara Calvert (Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative)
  • M. Khair ElZarrad (Food and Drug Administration/CDER)
  • Cindy Geoghegan (Individual Patient Representative/Caregiver)
  • Colleen Rouse (Cleveland Clinic)
  • Pamela Tenaerts (Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative)

PDF icon Download Slides