Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Apr 25:18:100568.
doi: 10.1016/j.conctc.2020.100568. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Master protocols: New directions in drug discovery

Affiliations

Master protocols: New directions in drug discovery

Vladimir Bogin. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. .

Abstract

A master protocol is a unifying study construct that includes multiple subgroups and substudies, with patients having same or different diseases and that employ one or multiple drugs to treat it. Initially designed for oncology, master protocol trials are intended to simultaneously evaluate more than one investigational drug and/or more than one cancer type within the same overall trial structure. The ability to use a single infrastructure, trial design, and protocol to simultaneously evaluate multiple drugs and/or disease populations in multiple substudies, speeds up drug development and makes it more efficient. Thus, it is important for the clinical trial professionals to understand both the basic principles of master protocol trials and the way innovative trial designs are starting to change the landscape of clinical research.

Keywords: Basket design; Master protocols; Platform design; Umbrella design.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that he has no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Example of basket trial design.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Example of umbrella trial design.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Example of PlatformTrial design.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Gbm agile trial design.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
REMAP-CAP trial design.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Battle-1 trial design.

References

    1. Heinrich M.C., Joensuu H., Demetri G.D., Corless C.L., Apperley J., Fletcher J.A., Soulieres D., Dirnhofer S., Harlow A., Town A. Phase II, open-label study evaluating the activity of imatinib in treating life-threatening malignancies known to be a ssociated with imatinib-sensitive tyrosine kinases. Clin. Canc. Res. 2008;14(9):2717–2725. - PubMed
    1. Bateman R.J., Benzinger T.L., Berry S., Clifford D.B., Duggan C., Fagan A.M. The DIAN-TU Next Generation Alzheimer's prevention trial: adaptive design and disease progression model. Alzheim Dement. 2017;13:8–19. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Randomized, embedded, multifactorial adaptive platform trial for community- acquired pneumonia (REMAP-CAP) https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02735707 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Butler C.C., Coenen S., Saville B.R., Cook J., van der Velden A., Homes J. A trial like ALIC4E: why design a platform, response-adaptive, open, randomised controlled trial of antivirals for influenza-like illness? ERJ Open Res. 2018;4 00046–2018. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Renfro L.A., Sargent D.J. Statistical controversies in clinical research: basket trials, umbrella trials, and other master protocols: a review and examples. Ann. Oncol. 2017;28:34–43. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources