scholarly journals RTS,S malaria vaccine pilot studies: addressing the human realities in large-scale clinical trials

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Machteld van den Berg ◽  
Bernhards Ogutu ◽  
Nelson Sewankambo ◽  
Nikola Biller-Andorno ◽  
Marcel Tanner

Abstract A malaria vaccine as part of the integrated malaria control and elimination efforts will have a major impact on public health in sub-Sahara Africa. The first malaria vaccine, RTS,S, now enters pilot implementation in three African countries. These pilot implementation studies are being initiated in Kenya, Malawi and Ghana to inform the broader roll-out recommendation. Based on the malaria vaccine clinical trial experiences, key ethical practices for effective clinical trial research in low-resource settings are described. For successful vaccine integration into malaria intervention programs, the relational dynamics between researchers and trial communities must be made explicit. Incorporating community values and returning to research practices that serve the intended benefactors are key strategies that address the human realities in large-scale clinical trials and pilot implementation, leading to positive public health outcomes.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Machteld van den Berg ◽  
Bernhards Ogutu ◽  
Nelson Sewankambo ◽  
Nikola Biller-Andorno ◽  
Marcel Tanner

Abstract A malaria vaccine as part of the integrated malaria control and elimination efforts will have a major impact on public health in sub-Sahara Africa. The first malaria vaccine, RTS,S, now enters pilot implementation in three African countries. These pilot implementation studies are being initiated in Kenya, Malawi and Ghana to inform the broader roll-out recommendation. Based on the malaria vaccine clinical trial experiences, key ethical practices for effective clinical trial research in low-resource settings are described. For successful vaccine integration into malaria intervention programs, the relational dynamics between researchers and trial communities must be made explicit. Incorporating community values and returning to research practices that serve the intended benefactors are key strategies that address the human realities in large-scale clinical trials and pilot implementation, leading to positive public health outcomes.


Trials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Machteld van den Berg ◽  
Bernhards Ogutu ◽  
Nelson K. Sewankambo ◽  
Nikola Biller-Andorno ◽  
Marcel Tanner

Author(s):  
Subha Sankar Paul ◽  
Goutam Biswas

: COVID-19 is a public health emergency of international concern. Although, considerable knowledge has been acquired with time about the viral mechanism of infection and mode of replication, yet no specific drugs or vaccines have been discovered against SARS-CoV-2, till date. There are few small molecule antiviral drugs like Remdesivir and Favipiravir which have shown promising results in different advanced stage of clinical trials. Chloroquinine, Hydroxychloroquine, and Lopinavir-Ritonavir combination, although initially was hypothesized to be effective against SARS-CoV-2, are now discontinued from the solidarity clinical trials. This review provides a brief description of their chemical syntheses along with their mode of action and clinical trial results available in Google and different peer reviewed journals till 24th October 2020.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Hirsch ◽  
Mahip Grewal ◽  
Anthony James Martorell ◽  
Brian Michael Iacoviello

BACKGROUND Digital Therapeutics (DTx) provide evidence based therapeutic health interventions that have been clinically validated to deliver therapeutic outcomes, such that the software is the treatment. Digital methodologies are increasingly adopted to conduct clinical trials due to advantages they provide including increases in efficiency and decreases in trial costs. Digital therapeutics are digital by design and can leverage the potential of digital and remote clinical trial methods. OBJECTIVE The principal purpose of this scoping review is to review the literature to determine whether digital technologies are being used in DTx clinical research, which type are being used and whether publications are noting any advantages to their use. As DTx development is an emerging field there are likely gaps in the knowledge base regarding DTx and clinical trials, and the purpose of this review is to illuminate those gaps. A secondary purpose is to consider questions which emerged during the review process including whether fully remote digital clinical research is appropriate for all health conditions and whether digital clinical trial methods are inline with the principles of Good Clinical Practice. METHODS 1,326 records were identified by searching research databases and 1,227 reviewed at the full-article level in order to determine if they were appropriate for inclusion. Confirmation of clinical trial status, use of digital clinical research methods and digital therapeutic status as well as inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied in order to determine relevant articles. Digital methods employed in DTx research were extracted from each article and these data were synthesized in order to determine which digital methods are currently used in clinical trial research. RESULTS After applying our criteria for scoping review inclusion, 11 articles were identified. All articles used at least one form of digital clinical research methodology enabling an element of remote research. The most commonly used digital methods are those related to recruitment, enrollment and the assessment of outcomes. A small number of articles reported using other methods such as online compensation (n = 3), or digital reminders for participants (n = 5). The majority of digital therapeutics clinical research using digital methods is conducted in the United States and increasing number of articles using digital methods are published each year. CONCLUSIONS Digital methods are used in clinical trial research evaluating DTx, though not frequently as evidenced by the low proportion of articles included in this review. Fully remote clinical trial research is not yet the standard, more frequently authors are using partially remote methods. Additionally, there is tremendous variability in the level of detail describing digital methods within the literature. As digital technologies continue to advance and the clinical research DTx literature matures, digital methods which facilitate remote research may be used more frequently.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1963 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-346

Recommendations were made in view of the following facts: (1) the need for further information on the mechanisms involved in the phenotypic expressions of phenylketonuria; (2) the present lack of adequate data on the effectiveness of the Guthrie Inhibition Assay, in terms of number of cases which may be missed, factors making for positive determinations and providing other information on which to evaluate the appropriateness of the large-scale screening program proposed; (3) the undesirability of deploying inordinate resources in the evaluation of the Guthrie Inhibition Assay to the detriment of the needs of other areas of child health including phenylketonuria; (4) the indications that a multi-faceted approach to phenylketonuria would be productive, not only in resolving the problems involving this disorder but also as a model for the investigation of and application to the treatment of other genetic diseases; (5) the possibility that the Guthrie Inhibition Assay could be a useful tool in the early detection, treatment and investigation of phenylketonuria; and (6) the fact that other state health departments are participating in the Guthrie Field Trials, indicating that the California State Department of Public Health should apply its resources to a more intensive study of PKU and detection methods. The consultants made the following recommendations, through resolution, to the California State Department of Public Health. It was resolved that: 1. The State of California not be responsible at this time for initiating or recommending that the Guthrie procedure be accomplished on a state-wide basis in all newborn nurseries (one dissent). 2. The State of California initiate and coordinate the development of pilot studies in selected hospitals and medical centers throughout the State in the investigation of phenylketonuria, utilizing the Guthrie Inhibition Assay or other tests. 3. A scientific committee be appointed immediately as an advisory committee to the State Department of Public Health to develop recommendations for carrying out the suggested investigations. 4. A registry for phenylketonuria and other diseases (as listed in the recommendations by the Subcommittee on Human Genetics) be established within the framework of the State organization.


F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 913
Author(s):  
Julian Hirt ◽  
Abeelan Rasadurai ◽  
Matthias Briel ◽  
Pascal Düblin ◽  
Perrine Janiaud ◽  
...  

Background: In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented volume of almost 3,000 clinical trials registered worldwide. We aimed to describe the COVID-19 clinical trial research agenda in Germany during the first year of the pandemic. Methods: We identified randomized clinical trials assessing interventions to treat or prevent COVID-19 that were registered in 2020 and recruited or planned to recruit participants in Germany. We requested recruitment information from trial investigators as of April 2021. Results: In 2020, 65 trials were completely (n=27) or partially (n=38) conducted in Germany. Most trials investigated interventions to treat COVID-19 (86.2%; 56/65), in hospitalized patients (67.7%; 44/65), with industry funding (53.8%; 35/65). Few trials were completed (21.5%; 14/65). Overall, 187,179 participants were planned to be recruited (20,696 in Germany), with a median number of 106 German participants per trial (IQR 40 to 345).  From the planned German participants, 13.4%  were recruited (median 15 per trial (IQR 0 to 44). Conclusions: The overall German contribution to the worldwide COVID-19 clinical trial research agenda was modest. Few trials delivered urgently needed evidence. Most trials did not meet recruitment goals. Evaluation and international comparison of the challenges for conducting clinical trials in Germany is needed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liran Chen ◽  
Zhimin Chen ◽  
Huafang Chen

Abstract Objective: The changes of absolute value and relative value of clinical research coordinator service fee and its influence on the quality of drug clinical trial were analyzed.Methods: This study compared the amount and structural changes of drug clinical trial costs in before 3 years and after 3 years of self-examination and inspection initiated by the China Food and Drug Administration, identified the increase number and composition of each individual cost of a clinical trial research funds which including clinical research coordinator service fee, investigator labor fee, subjects examination fee, subjects traffic subsidy, documents management fee, drug management fee, etc.Result: The most significant appearance and increase in volume and proportion were the clinical research coordinator service fee. From the initial few to the global multicenter tumor drug clinical trials RMB31,624 or 34.92% of the proportion and domestic multicenter tumor drug clinical trials RMB16,500,accounted for 33.74%.Discussion: It has become common for more money to be spent on clinical trials to be accompanied by improved quality, but the occurrence and continuous increase of clinical research coordinator service fee were divided into two aspects, On the one hand, the quality of clinical trials was promoted by the large amount of low-skill trivial work undertaken by clinical research coordinator; on the other hand, the quality of clinical trials was undermined by the fact that clinical research coordinator did too much treatment evaluation work that should have been done by the investigator.


Author(s):  
Michelle Lee D'Abundo ◽  
Saliha Akhtar ◽  
Cynthia Israel

Increasing the participation of women and minorities in clinical trials is a challenge for the healthcare industry. The lack of diversity in clinical trials prevents the tailoring of healthcare interventions specifically for women and minorities. The purpose of this paper is to explore how technology-oriented strategies can be applied in the clinical trial research process to increase the recruitment of women and minorities in clinical trials. An overview of clinical trials, the stakeholders, and current issues in diversifying recruitment are provided. In order to recruit diverse participant populations, the use of online advertising, social media, e-newsletters, tablets, smartphones, and apps are detailed. Lessons from previous use of technology in recruitment are outlined as well as future trends. With the support of clinical trial stakeholders, the current technology-oriented strategies available seem promising as methods for increasing the participation of women and minorities in clinical trials.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley H Curtis ◽  
Laura M Dember ◽  
Miguel A Vazquez ◽  
David Murray ◽  
Lynn DeBar ◽  
...  

While conducting a set of large-scale multi-site pragmatic clinical trials involving high-impact public health issues such as end-stage renal disease, opioid use, and colorectal cancer, there were substantial changes to both policies and guidelines relevant to the trials. These external changes gave rise to unexpected challenges for the trials, including decisions regarding how to respond to new clinical practice guidelines, increased difficulty in implementing trial interventions, achieving separation between treatment groups, and differential responses across sites. In this article, we describe these challenges and the approaches used to address them. When deliberating appropriate action in the face of external changes during a pragmatic clinical trial, we recommend considering the well-being of the participants, clinical equipoise, and the strength and quality of the evidence associated with the change; involving those charged with data and safety monitoring; and where possible, planning for potential external changes as the trial is being designed. Any solution must balance the primary obligation to protect the well-being of participants with the secondary obligation to protect the integrity of the trial in order to gain meaningful answers to important public health questions.


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