Podcast Episode
41: Navigating the Arena: Platform Trials
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Scott Berry, Ph.D.
President & Senior Statistical Scientist
In this episode of "In the Interim…", Dr. Scott Berry delivers a metaphoric critique of single-question trial infrastructure through the sports arena analogy, illustrating the cost, patient burden, and data inefficiency of conventional clinical trials.
In this episode of "In the Interim…", Dr. Scott Berry delivers a metaphoric critique of single-question trial infrastructure through the sports arena analogy, illustrating the cost, patient burden, and data inefficiency of conventional clinical trials. He provides a methodical comparison of traditional trial models and the platform trial approach, clarifying distinctions between platform, basket, and master protocol structures. Through examples from HEALEY ALS, I-SPY 2, PALM (Ebola), REMAP-CAP, RECOVERY, EPAD, GBM AGILE, and Precision Promise, Scott outlines the measurable efficiencies of platform trials: shared control arms, flexible arm addition and removal, reduced placebo exposure, accelerated timelines, and improved statistical inferences. The episode further examines platform trial performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting trial adaptability, and the rapid generation of actionable evidence. Scott also addresses failure scenarios, focusing on EPAD Alzheimer’s as a cautionary case in platform sustainability, cost allocation, and initial funding barriers. Listeners will gain a perspective on the operational and statistical design choices governing today’s most innovative clinical studies.
Key Highlights
● Arena analogy applied to delineate clinical research inefficiency.
● Operational, statistical, and patient-focused efficiencies in platform versus single-question trials.
● Precision in terminology: platform, basket, and master protocol definitions.
● Effects of platform trials on speed and scientific rigor.
● Factors underlying both platform trial successes and failures.
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41: Navigating the Arena: Platform Trials
In this episode of "In the Interim…", Dr. Scott Berry delivers a metaphoric critique of single-question trial infrastructure through the sports arena analogy, illustrating the cost, patient burden, and data inefficiency of conventional clinical trials.
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