"Provides well-integrated, comprehensive coverage of all the major statistical designs and methods used for animal studies in pharmaceutical research and development. Demonstrates the correct way to interpret the results of animal studies in the risk assessment of biopharmaceutical products and clarifies detailed presentations with real-world examples. "
Nervous system diseases and disorders are highly prevalent and substantially contribute to the overall disease burden. Despite significant information provided by the use of animal models in the understanding of the biology of nervous system disorders and the development of therapeutics; limitations have also been identified. Treatment options that are high in efficacy and low in side effects are still lacking for many diseases and, in some cases are nonexistent. A particular problem in drug development is the high rate of attrition in Phase II and III clinical trials. Why do many therapeutics show promise in preclinical animal models but then fail to elicit predicted effects when tested in humans? On March 28 and 29, 2012, the Institute of Medicine Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders convened the workshop "Improving Translation of Animal Models for Nervous System Disorders" to discuss potential opportunities for maximizing the translation of new therapies from animal models to clinical practice. The primary focus of the workshop was to examine mechanisms for increasing the efficiency of translational neuroscience research through discussions about how and when to use animal models most effectively and then best approaches for the interpretation of the data collected. Specifically, the workshop objectives were to: discuss key issues that contribute to poor translation of animal models in nervous system disorders, examine case studies that highlight successes and failures in the development and application of animal models, consider strategies to increase the scientific rigor of preclinical efficacy testing, explore the benefits and challenges to developing standardized animal and behavioral models. Improving the Utility and Translation of Animal Models for Nervous System Disorders: Workshop Summary also identifies methods to facilitate development of corresponding animal and clinical endpoints, indentifies methods that would maximize bidirectional translation between basic and clinical research and determines the next steps that will be critical for improvement of the development and testing of animal models of disorders of the nervous system.
Scientific experiments using animals have contributed significantly to the improvement of human health. Animal experiments were crucial to the conquest of polio, for example, and they will undoubtedly be one of the keystones in AIDS research. However, some persons believe that the cost to the animals is often high. Authored by a committee of experts from various fields, this book discusses the benefits that have resulted from animal research, the scope of animal research today, the concerns of advocates of animal welfare, and the prospects for finding alternatives to animal use. The authors conclude with specific recommendations for more consistent government action.
Improving and Accelerating Therapeutic Development for Nervous System Disorders is the summary of a workshop convened by the IOM Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders to examine opportunities to accelerate early phases of drug development for nervous system drug discovery. Workshop participants discussed challenges in neuroscience research for enabling faster entry of potential treatments into first-in-human trials, explored how new and emerging tools and technologies may improve the efficiency of research, and considered mechanisms to facilitate a more effective and efficient development pipeline. There are several challenges to the current drug development pipeline for nervous system disorders. The fundamental etiology and pathophysiology of many nervous system disorders are unknown and the brain is inaccessible to study, making it difficult to develop accurate models. Patient heterogeneity is high, disease pathology can occur years to decades before becoming clinically apparent, and diagnostic and treatment biomarkers are lacking. In addition, the lack of validated targets, limitations related to the predictive validity of animal models - the extent to which the model predicts clinical efficacy - and regulatory barriers can also impede translation and drug development for nervous system disorders. Improving and Accelerating Therapeutic Development for Nervous System Disorders identifies avenues for moving directly from cellular models to human trials, minimizing the need for animal models to test efficacy, and discusses the potential benefits and risks of such an approach. This report is a timely discussion of opportunities to improve early drug development with a focus toward preclinical trials.
Neurological Disorders is written for researchers in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry who use animal models in research and development of drugs for neurological disorders such as neurofibromatosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington disease, ALS, and the epilepsies. Neurological Disorders has introductory chapters expressing the view of the role and relevance of animal models for drug discovery and development for the treatment of psychiatric disorders from the perspective of (a) academic basic neuroscientific research, (b) applied pharmaceutical drug discovery and development, and (c) issues of clinical trial design and regulatory agencies limitations. Each volume examines the rationale, use, robustness and limitations of animal models in each therapeutic area covered and discuss the use of animal models for target identification and validation. The clinical relevance of animal models is discussed in terms of major limitations in cross-species comparisons, clinical trial design of drug candidates, and how clinical trial endpoints could be improved. The aim of this series of volumes on Animal and Translational Models for CNS Drug Discovery is to identify and provide common endpoints between species that can serve to inform both the clinic and the bench with the information needed to accelerate clinically-effective CNS drug discovery. This is the second volume in the three volume-set, Animal and Translational Models for CNS Drug Discovery 978-0-12-373861-5, which is also available for purchase individually. - Clinical, academic, government and industry perspectives fostering integrated communication between principle participants at all stages of the drug discovery process - Critical evaluation of animal and translational models improving transition from drug discovery and clinical development - Emphasis on what results mean to the overall drug discovery process - Exploration of issues in clinical trial design and conductance in each therapeutic area
Principles of Animal Research is the first publication to offer a broad look at animal research science for a student, early researcher, or technician. Offering guidance for all aspects of the research experience, including the research and development of a thesis, model selection, experimental design, IACUC protocol preparation, and animal husbandry and technical procedural needs, the book is a necessary addition to every student, technician, and researcher's education. - Provides background material for students to understand the broader backdrop against which animal research is undertaken - Includes ethical and regulatory information - Covers commonly used animal models and the process to choose a model for biomedical research
Toxicology studies are carried out on all drug substances to ensure safety. This book provides an overview of the methodology andrequirements of pre-clinical safety assessments of new medicines. with the focus on medicinal drugs - the most important safety issues of drugs are covered, including registration requirements of new drugs and pharmacovigilance. This is an introductory text for students at BSc, MSc and PhD levels,and will be an excellent companion to pharmacology textbooks, combining a broad treatment of the issues relevant for assessing the safety/efficacy balance of a new drug wit
The use of drugs in food animal production has resulted in benefits throughout the food industry; however, their use has also raised public health safety concerns. The Use of Drugs in Food Animals provides an overview of why and how drugs are used in the major food-producing animal industriesâ€"poultry, dairy, beef, swine, and aquaculture. The volume discusses the prevalence of human pathogens in foods of animal origin. It also addresses the transfer of resistance in animal microbes to human pathogens and the resulting risk of human disease. The committee offers analysis and insight into these areas: Monitoring of drug residues. The book provides a brief overview of how the FDA and USDA monitor drug residues in foods of animal origin and describes quality assurance programs initiated by the poultry, dairy, beef, and swine industries. Antibiotic resistance. The committee reports what is known about this controversial problem and its potential effect on human health. The volume also looks at how drug use may be minimized with new approaches in genetics, nutrition, and animal management.
Clinical trials are used to elucidate the most appropriate preventive, diagnostic, or treatment options for individuals with a given medical condition. Perhaps the most essential feature of a clinical trial is that it aims to use results based on a limited sample of research participants to see if the intervention is safe and effective or if it is comparable to a comparison treatment. Sample size is a crucial component of any clinical trial. A trial with a small number of research participants is more prone to variability and carries a considerable risk of failing to demonstrate the effectiveness of a given intervention when one really is present. This may occur in phase I (safety and pharmacologic profiles), II (pilot efficacy evaluation), and III (extensive assessment of safety and efficacy) trials. Although phase I and II studies may have smaller sample sizes, they usually have adequate statistical power, which is the committee's definition of a "large" trial. Sometimes a trial with eight participants may have adequate statistical power, statistical power being the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when the hypothesis is false. Small Clinical Trials assesses the current methodologies and the appropriate situations for the conduct of clinical trials with small sample sizes. This report assesses the published literature on various strategies such as (1) meta-analysis to combine disparate information from several studies including Bayesian techniques as in the confidence profile method and (2) other alternatives such as assessing therapeutic results in a single treated population (e.g., astronauts) by sequentially measuring whether the intervention is falling above or below a preestablished probability outcome range and meeting predesigned specifications as opposed to incremental improvement.
