Faculty webinar - Towards more efficient clinical trials with adaptive designs and master protocols with Dr Philip Pallmann

In this webinar, Dr Philip Pallmann introduces adaptive designs as a way to increase the flexibility and efficiency of clinical trials. Adaptive designs allow for pre-planned changes to ongoing trials based on interim analyses of accumulating data, without compromising the integrity of the research or the validity of its findings. Adaptations such as refining the patient population, amending the recruitment target, or stopping the whole trial early can lead to more efficient, more informative, and/or more ethical trials than traditional ‘fixed’ designs. Adaptive designs are applicable throughout the clinical development process, from early studies with few participants to large confirmatory trials in later phases.

The session includes a whistle-stop tour of available adaptive designs with non-technical explanations of their features and potential benefits, illustrated with examples of real trials, as well as an overview of the related concept of master protocols as applied in platform, basket and umbrella designs. Some practical challenges are highlighted and how these can be overcome. 

Dr Philip Pallmann is a Senior Research Fellow in Statistics in the Centre for Trials Research and he co-leads the Adaptive Designs Working Group of the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership

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