Back to Explorer

Interacting with the FDA on Complex Innovative Trial Designs for Drugs and Biological Products: Guidance for Industry

FinalCenter for Biologics Evaluation and Research Center for Drug Evaluation and Research12/16/2020
Trial Integrity

Description

This document provides guidance to sponsors and applicants on interacting with the FDA on complex innovative trial design (CID) proposals for drugs or biological products.   FDA is issuing this guidance to satisfy, in part, a mandate under section 3021 of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act).  In accordance with the Cures Act mandate, this guidance discusses the use of novel trial designs in the development and regulatory review of drugs and biological products, how sponsors may obtain feedback on technical issues related to modeling and simulation, and the types of quantitative and qualitative information that should be submitted for review.  Additional recommendations related to the mandate set forth in section 3021 of the Cures Act are addressed in FDA’s guidance on Adaptive Designs for Clinical Trials of Drugs and Biologics (Ref. 1). This guidance finalizes the draft guidance of the same title dated September 2019.

Key Topics

Terms and concepts identified from this document

Scope & Applicability

Product Classes

3
Drug

Defined in section 201(g) of the FD&C Act; Articles intended for use in diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease; Product classification based on chemical action or specific intended uses like altering pH

Biological Product

Regulated under section 351(i) of the PHS Act; Virus, therapeutic serum, toxin, vaccine, or protein applicable to prevention or treatment; Alternative regulation category for products meeting device definition

Biological Products

Requires analytical comparability per ICH Q5E

Stakeholders

3
Sponsor

Entity responsible for submitting applications under section 524B

Applicant

Entity submitting development data and knowledge; Entity performing the work process for change

Data Monitoring Committee

Safety oversight body for interpreting adverse events; Safety oversight body for study design

Regulatory Context

Regulatory Activities

7
New Drug Application

Rule does not apply to products marketed under an NDA

Biologics License Application

BLA for biological products

Investigational New Drug Application

IND for treatment use; Regulatory submission required for clinical trials and expanded access.

Type B End of Phase 2 meeting

formal meetings for routine feedback on IND amendment submissions

Type C meeting

Mechanism for applicants to discuss total nitrosamine limits with FDA.

pre-IND meeting

Meeting held prior to IND submission; Meeting to receive feedback before submitting an IND.; Meeting appropriate when manufacturing process is defined and POC completed.; discuss the adequacy of these data at a pre-IND meeting

CID Pilot Program

pilot program for complex innovative trial designs to obtain additional meetings; Examples include randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies.

Document Types

4
Master Protocols

Innovative trial design element

Master Protocol

Single trial infrastructure used in umbrella trials

Simulation Report

Provides simulation strategy and outcomes related to alternative dosing regimens

Study Protocol

Document defining the design and conduct of the trial

Attributes

3
Operating Characteristics

Chance of producing erroneous conclusions

Exchangeability

relevance of external data to the proposed trial design

Prior Distribution

Bayesian inference relies on well-informed specification of the prior

Technical Details

Testing Methods

8
Bayesian CID

Recommended elements of Bayesian CID Proposals

Modeling and Simulation

Approaches used in pediatric extrapolation plan; M&S strategies should be applied to support the initial dose selection; Used to summarize reference data or inform the choice of analysis strategy.

Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trials

Examples of CID include SMARTs

Computer Simulations

used to determine important aspects of the design and operating characteristics

Bayesian Inference

Method of statistical inference using Bayes' theorem to update probability.

Bayesian mixed-model repeated measures

approach to investigate differences in a numeric pain scale

Hierarchical models

Used to address heterogeneity between prior data and concurrent Phase 3 data.

Bayesian approaches

technique to incorporate information from reference population

Clinical Concepts

4
Substantial Evidence of Effectiveness

The standard of evidence required for drug approval, which master protocols can contribute to.

Phase 2 data

Data should be presented in enough detail for FDA to evaluate its quality.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Study of investigational treatment in ambulatory patients.

Pediatric multiple sclerosis

Non-inferiority study comparing an investigational drug to an active control.

Standards & References

Specifications

3
Prior Distributions

Recommended elements of Bayesian CID Proposals

Decision Criteria

Recommended elements of Bayesian CID Proposals; implementation details for interim analyses and primary endpoints

Type I error probability

should be addressed where applicable in the evaluation of operating characteristics

See Also (8)

Interacting with the FDA on Complex Innovative Trial Designs for Drugs and Biological Products: Guidance for Industry | Guideline Explorer | BioRegHub