Methods for Neuroscience Drug Development: Guidance on Standardization of the Process for Defining Clinical Outcome Strategies in Clinical Trials

• DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2024.02.009
• Publication Date: 2024-04-04T06:32:21Z
• Authors: Silvia Zaragoza D...; Jordi Alonso; Montse Ferrer; Maria T. Acosta; Larry Alphs; Peter Annas; Pavel Balabanov; Anna-Karin Berger; Kim I. Bishop; Florence Butlen-D...; Georg Dorffner; Chris Edgar; Manuel de Gracia ...; Brian Harel; John Harrison; William P. Horan; Judith Jaeger; Jan Kottner; Amy Pinkham; Daniella Tinoco; Monika Vance; Christian Yavorsky
• Keywords: Clinical Trials as Topic; 03 medical and health sciences; Treatment Outcome; 0302 clinical medicine; Drug Development; Research Design; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Neurosciences; Humans

Neurosciences clinical trials continue to have notoriously high failure rates. Appropriate outcomes selection in early clinical trials is key to maximizing the likelihood of identifying new treatments in psychiatry and neurology. The field lacks good standards for designing outcome strategies, therefore The Outcomes Research Group was formed to develop and promote good practices in outcome selection. This article describes the first published guidance on the standardization of the process for clinical outcomes in neuroscience. A minimal step process is defined starting as early as possible, covering key activities for evidence generation in support of content validity, patient-centricity, validity requirements and considerations for regulatory acceptance. Feedback from expert members is provided, regarding the risks of shortening the process and examples supporting the recommended process are summarized. This methodology is now available to researchers in industry, academia or clinics aiming to implement consensus-based standard practices for clinical outcome selection, contributing to maximizing the efficiency of clinical research.