Pharma Blog

  • The role of Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs) in cognition and dementia research and treatment

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    Tracking cognitive functioning remains a critical part of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia research. When used properly, COAs offer valuable insights into patients’ conditions, helping researchers track patients’ progress and assess a drug’s efficacy throughout clinical trials.

    However, choosing suboptimal scales can be catastrophic for clinical research. The cognitive scales used in the majority of clinical trials for AD, for example, have been pivotal to the failure of 98% of Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials.

    In this blog, we’ll discuss how COAs can make or break clinical trial outcomes and share how sponsors can select the optimal scales for their AD clinical research programs.

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  • Taking an innovative approach to challenging COA translations

    A graphic map of Europe with Estonia, Finland, and Hungary highlighted

    Over the last ten years, the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-3), a leading developmental assessment for children ages 1–42 months, has been referenced as an endpoint in 145 clinical trials (Citeline, 2024). Of those, 6.21% have included sites in the Finno-Ugric countries of Estonia, Finland, and Hungary.

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  • Clinical trial considerations: All scores are not created equal

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    Dr. Lynsey Psimas, Ph.D and Dr. Paul Williams PsyD attended CNS Summit 2023 and were fortunate to have the opportunity to present their poster, Precision Matters: An Analysis on How Various Scores Behave When Measuring Change Over Time; Factors That Inform Score Selection for the Best Results”.

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  • An interview with Mark Daniel, author of Growth Scale Value (GSV): Theory, Development, and Applications

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    In testing and in research, you must have an effective and reliable way to measure change. While raw scores have typically been the go-to for this important role, Growth Scale Values (GSVs) are quickly becoming the preferred method.

    Our Director of Pharma Sales, Lynsey Psimas, had the opportunity to speak with Mark Daniel, author of Growth Scale Value (GSV): Theory, Development, and Applications to discuss the importance of GSVs. He spent some time explaining GSVs and their importance in test scoring and pharma research.

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