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Book Handbook of Methods for Designing  Monitoring  and Analyzing Dose Finding Trials

Download or read book Handbook of Methods for Designing Monitoring and Analyzing Dose Finding Trials written by John O'Quigley and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Handbook of Methods for Designing, Monitoring, and Analyzing Dose-Finding Trials gives a thorough presentation of state-of-the-art methods for early phase clinical trials. The methodology of clinical trials has advanced greatly over the last 20 years and, arguably, nowhere greater than that of early phase studies. The need to accelerate drug development in a rapidly evolving context of targeted therapies, immunotherapy, combination treatments and complex group structures has provided the stimulus to these advances. Typically, we deal with very small samples, sequential methods that need to be efficient, while, at the same time adhering to ethical principles due to the involvement of human subjects. Statistical inference is difficult since the standard techniques of maximum likelihood do not usually apply as a result of model misspecification and parameter estimates lying on the boundary of the parameter space. Bayesian methods play an important part in overcoming these difficulties, but nonetheless, require special consideration in this particular context. The purpose of this handbook is to provide an expanded summary of the field as it stands and also, through discussion, provide insights into the thinking of leaders in the field as to the potential developments of the years ahead. With this goal in mind we present: An introduction to the field for graduate students and novices A basis for more established researchers from which to build A collection of material for an advanced course in early phase clinical trials A comprehensive guide to available methodology for practicing statisticians on the design and analysis of dose-finding experiments An extensive guide for the multiple comparison and modeling (MCP-Mod) dose-finding approach, adaptive two-stage designs for dose finding, as well as dose–time–response models and multiple testing in the context of confirmatory dose-finding studies. John O’Quigley is a professor of mathematics and research director at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research based at the Faculty of Mathematics, University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, France. He is author of Proportional Hazards Regression and has published extensively in the field of dose finding. Alexia Iasonos is an associate attending biostatistician at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She has over one hundred publications in the leading statistical and clinical journals on the methodology and design of early phase clinical trials. Dr. Iasonos has wide experience in the actual implementation of model based early phase trials and has given courses in scientific meetings internationally. Björn Bornkamp is a statistical methodologist at Novartis in Basel, Switzerland, researching and implementing dose-finding designs in Phase II clinical trials. He is one of the co-developers of the MCP-Mod methodology for dose finding and main author of the DoseFinding R package. He has published numerous papers on dose finding, nonlinear models and Bayesian statistics, and in 2013 won the Royal Statistical Society award for statistical excellence in the pharmaceutical industry.

Book Handbook of Methods for Designing  Monitoring  and Analyzing Dose Finding Trials

Download or read book Handbook of Methods for Designing Monitoring and Analyzing Dose Finding Trials written by John O'Quigley and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Handbook of Methods for Designing, Monitoring, and Analyzing Dose-Finding Trials gives a thorough presentation of state-of-the-art methods for early phase clinical trials. The methodology of clinical trials has advanced greatly over the last 20 years and, arguably, nowhere greater than that of early phase studies. The need to accelerate drug development in a rapidly evolving context of targeted therapies, immunotherapy, combination treatments and complex group structures has provided the stimulus to these advances. Typically, we deal with very small samples, sequential methods that need to be efficient, while, at the same time adhering to ethical principles due to the involvement of human subjects. Statistical inference is difficult since the standard techniques of maximum likelihood do not usually apply as a result of model misspecification and parameter estimates lying on the boundary of the parameter space. Bayesian methods play an important part in overcoming these difficulties, but nonetheless, require special consideration in this particular context. The purpose of this handbook is to provide an expanded summary of the field as it stands and also, through discussion, provide insights into the thinking of leaders in the field as to the potential developments of the years ahead. With this goal in mind we present: An introduction to the field for graduate students and novices A basis for more established researchers from which to build A collection of material for an advanced course in early phase clinical trials A comprehensive guide to available methodology for practicing statisticians on the design and analysis of dose-finding experiments An extensive guide for the multiple comparison and modeling (MCP-Mod) dose-finding approach, adaptive two-stage designs for dose finding, as well as dose–time–response models and multiple testing in the context of confirmatory dose-finding studies. John O’Quigley is a professor of mathematics and research director at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research based at the Faculty of Mathematics, University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, France. He is author of Proportional Hazards Regression and has published extensively in the field of dose finding. Alexia Iasonos is an associate attending biostatistician at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She has over one hundred publications in the leading statistical and clinical journals on the methodology and design of early phase clinical trials. Dr. Iasonos has wide experience in the actual implementation of model based early phase trials and has given courses in scientific meetings internationally. Björn Bornkamp is a statistical methodologist at Novartis in Basel, Switzerland, researching and implementing dose-finding designs in Phase II clinical trials. He is one of the co-developers of the MCP-Mod methodology for dose finding and main author of the DoseFinding R package. He has published numerous papers on dose finding, nonlinear models and Bayesian statistics, and in 2013 won the Royal Statistical Society award for statistical excellence in the pharmaceutical industry.

Book Dose Finding Designs for Early Phase Cancer Clinical Trials

Download or read book Dose Finding Designs for Early Phase Cancer Clinical Trials written by Takashi Daimon and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-05-21 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive introduction to statistical methods for designing early phase dose-finding clinical trials. It will serve as a textbook or handbook for graduate students and practitioners in biostatistics and clinical investigators who are involved in designing, conducting, monitoring, and analyzing dose-finding trials. The book will also provide an overview of advanced topics and discussions in this field for the benefit of researchers in biostatistics and statistical science. Beginning with backgrounds and fundamental notions on dose finding in early phase clinical trials, the book then provides traditional and recent dose-finding designs of phase I trials for, e.g., cytotoxic agents in oncology, to evaluate toxicity outcome. Included are rule-based and model-based designs, such as 3 + 3 designs, accelerated titration designs, toxicity probability interval designs, continual reassessment method and related designs, and escalation overdose control designs. This book also covers more complex and updated dose-finding designs of phase I-II and I/II trials for cytotoxic agents, and cytostatic agents, focusing on both toxicity and efficacy outcomes, such as designs with covariates and drug combinations, maximum tolerated dose-schedule finding designs, and so on.

Book Dose Finding by the Continual Reassessment Method

Download or read book Dose Finding by the Continual Reassessment Method written by Ying Kuen Cheung and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2011-03-29 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As clinicians begin to realize the important role of dose-finding in the drug development process, there is an increasing openness to "novel" methods proposed in the past two decades. In particular, the Continual Reassessment Method (CRM) and its variations have drawn much attention in the medical community, though it has yet to become a commonplace tool. To overcome the status quo in phase I clinical trials, statisticians must be able to design trials using the CRM in a timely and reproducible manner. A self-contained theoretical framework of the CRM for researchers and graduate students who set out to learn and do research in the CRM and dose-finding methods in general, Dose Finding by the Continual Reassessment Method features: Real clinical trial examples that illustrate the methods and techniques throughout the book Detailed calibration techniques that enable biostatisticians to design a CRM in timely manner Limitations of the CRM are outlined to aid in correct use of method This book supplies practical, efficient dose-finding methods based on cutting edge statistical research. More than just a cookbook, it provides full, unified coverage of the CRM in addition to step-by-step guidelines to automation and parameterization of the methods used on a regular basis. A detailed exposition of the calibration of the CRM for applied statisticians working with dose-finding in phase I trials, the book focuses on the R package ‘dfcrm’ for the CRM and its major variants. The author recognizes clinicians’ skepticism of model-based designs, and addresses their concerns that the time, professional, and computational resources necessary for accurate model-based designs can be major bottlenecks to the widespread use of appropriate dose-finding methods in phase I practice. The theoretically- and empirically-based methods in Dose Finding by the Continual Reassessment Method will lessen the statistician’s burden and encourage the continuing development and implementation of model-based dose-finding methods.

Book Dose Finding and Beyond in Biopharmaceutical Development

Download or read book Dose Finding and Beyond in Biopharmaceutical Development written by Jingjing Ye and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Small Clinical Trials

    Book Details:
  • Author : Institute of Medicine
  • Publisher : National Academies Press
  • Release : 2001-01-01
  • ISBN : 0309171148
  • Pages : 221 pages

Download or read book Small Clinical Trials written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Book Platform Trial Designs in Drug Development

Download or read book Platform Trial Designs in Drug Development written by Zoran Antonijevic and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Platform trials test multiple therapies in one indication, one therapy for multiple indications, or both. These novel clinical trial designs can dramatically increase the cost-effectiveness of drug development, leading to life-altering medicines for people suffering from serious illnesses, possibly at lower cost. Currently, the cost of drug development is unsustainable. Furthermore, there are particular problems in rare diseases and small biomarker defined subsets in oncology, where the required sample sizes for traditional clinical trial designs may not be feasible. The editors recruited the key innovators in this domain. The 20 articles discuss trial designs from perspectives as diverse as quantum computing, patient’s rights to information, and international health. The book begins with an overview of platform trials from multiple perspectives. It then describes impacts of platform trials on the pharmaceutical industry’s key stakeholders: patients, regulators, and payers. Next it provides advanced statistical methods that address multiple aspects of platform trials, before concluding with a pharmaceutical executive’s perspective on platform trials. Except for the statistical methods section, only a basic qualitative knowledge of clinical trials is needed to appreciate the important concepts and novel ideas presented.

Book Handbook of Statistical Methods for Randomized Controlled Trials

Download or read book Handbook of Statistical Methods for Randomized Controlled Trials written by KyungMann Kim and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-08-23 with total page 655 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Statistical concepts provide scientific framework in experimental studies, including randomized controlled trials. In order to design, monitor, analyze and draw conclusions scientifically from such clinical trials, clinical investigators and statisticians should have a firm grasp of the requisite statistical concepts. The Handbook of Statistical Methods for Randomized Controlled Trials presents these statistical concepts in a logical sequence from beginning to end and can be used as a textbook in a course or as a reference on statistical methods for randomized controlled trials. Part I provides a brief historical background on modern randomized controlled trials and introduces statistical concepts central to planning, monitoring and analysis of randomized controlled trials. Part II describes statistical methods for analysis of different types of outcomes and the associated statistical distributions used in testing the statistical hypotheses regarding the clinical questions. Part III describes some of the most used experimental designs for randomized controlled trials including the sample size estimation necessary in planning. Part IV describe statistical methods used in interim analysis for monitoring of efficacy and safety data. Part V describe important issues in statistical analyses such as multiple testing, subgroup analysis, competing risks and joint models for longitudinal markers and clinical outcomes. Part VI addresses selected miscellaneous topics in design and analysis including multiple assignment randomization trials, analysis of safety outcomes, non-inferiority trials, incorporating historical data, and validation of surrogate outcomes.

Book Handbook of Methods for Designing and Monitoring Dose Finding Trials

Download or read book Handbook of Methods for Designing and Monitoring Dose Finding Trials written by John O'Quigley and published by Chapman & Hall/CRC. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook will provide an overview of most up-to-date statistical methods required for design, monitoring and analysis for dose finding clinical trials, focusing both on the clinical aspects as well as statistical considerations. This handbook will not cover statistical methods for Phase II non-dose finding studies or Phase III clinical trials.

Book Principles and Practice of Clinical Trials

Download or read book Principles and Practice of Clinical Trials written by Steven Piantadosi and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 2573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a comprehensive major reference work for our SpringerReference program covering clinical trials. Although the core of the Work will focus on the design, analysis, and interpretation of scientific data from clinical trials, a broad spectrum of clinical trial application areas will be covered in detail. This is an important time to develop such a Work, as drug safety and efficacy emphasizes the Clinical Trials process. Because of an immense and growing international disease burden, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies continue to develop new drugs. Clinical trials have also become extremely globalized in the past 15 years, with over 225,000 international trials ongoing at this point in time. Principles in Practice of Clinical Trials is truly an interdisciplinary that will be divided into the following areas: 1) Clinical Trials Basic Perspectives 2) Regulation and Oversight 3) Basic Trial Designs 4) Advanced Trial Designs 5) Analysis 6) Trial Publication 7) Topics Related Specific Populations and Legal Aspects of Clinical Trials The Work is designed to be comprised of 175 chapters and approximately 2500 pages. The Work will be oriented like many of our SpringerReference Handbooks, presenting detailed and comprehensive expository chapters on broad subjects. The Editors are major figures in the field of clinical trials, and both have written textbooks on the topic. There will also be a slate of 7-8 renowned associate editors that will edit individual sections of the Reference.

Book Modern Dose Finding Designs for Cancer Phase I Trials  Drug Combinations and Molecularly Targeted Agents

Download or read book Modern Dose Finding Designs for Cancer Phase I Trials Drug Combinations and Molecularly Targeted Agents written by Akihiro Hirakawa and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-01-30 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with advanced methods for adaptive phase I dose-finding clinical trials for combination of two agents and molecularly targeted agents (MTAs) in oncology. It provides not only methodological aspects of the dose-finding methods, but also software implementations and practical considerations in applying these complex methods to real cancer clinical trials. Thus, the book aims to furnish researchers in biostatistics and statistical science with a good summary of recent developments of adaptive dose-finding methods as well as providing practitioners in biostatistics and clinical investigators with advanced materials for designing, conducting, monitoring, and analyzing adaptive dose-finding trials. The topics in the book are mainly related to cancer clinical trials, but many of those topics are potentially applicable or can be extended to trials for other diseases. The focus is mainly on model-based dose-finding methods for two kinds of phase I trials. One is clinical trials with combinations of two agents. Development of dose-finding methods for two-agent combination trials requires reasonable models that can adequately capture joint toxicity probabilities for two agents, taking into consideration possible interactions of the two agents on toxicity probability such as synergistic or antagonistic effects. Another is clinical trials for evaluating both efficacy and toxicity outcomes in single- and two-agent combination trials. These methods are often applied to the phase I trials including MTAs because the toxicity and efficacy for a MTA does not monotonically increase with dose, but the efficacy often increases initially with the dose and then plateaus. Successful software implementations for several dose-finding methods are introduced in the book, and their operating characteristics in practice are discussed. Recent advance of the adaptive dose-finding methods in drug developments are also provided.

Book Handbook of Forensic Statistics

Download or read book Handbook of Forensic Statistics written by David L. Banks and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2020-11-05 with total page 571 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Handbook of Forensic Statistics is a collection of chapters by leading authorities in forensic statistics. Written for statisticians, scientists, and legal professionals having a broad range of statistical expertise, it summarizes and compares basic methods of statistical inference (frequentist, likelihoodist, and Bayesian) for trace and other evidence that links individuals to crimes, the modern history and key controversies in the field, and the psychological and legal aspects of such scientific evidence. Specific topics include uncertainty in measurements and conclusions; statistically valid statements of weight of evidence or source conclusions; admissibility and presentation of statistical findings; and the state of the art of methods (including problems and pitfalls) for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data in such areas as forensic biology, chemistry, and pattern and impression evidence. The particular types of evidence that are discussed include DNA, latent fingerprints, firearms and toolmarks, glass, handwriting, shoeprints, and voice exemplars.

Book Handbook of Bayesian Variable Selection

Download or read book Handbook of Bayesian Variable Selection written by Mahlet G. Tadesse and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-12-24 with total page 491 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bayesian variable selection has experienced substantial developments over the past 30 years with the proliferation of large data sets. Identifying relevant variables to include in a model allows simpler interpretation, avoids overfitting and multicollinearity, and can provide insights into the mechanisms underlying an observed phenomenon. Variable selection is especially important when the number of potential predictors is substantially larger than the sample size and sparsity can reasonably be assumed. The Handbook of Bayesian Variable Selection provides a comprehensive review of theoretical, methodological and computational aspects of Bayesian methods for variable selection. The topics covered include spike-and-slab priors, continuous shrinkage priors, Bayes factors, Bayesian model averaging, partitioning methods, as well as variable selection in decision trees and edge selection in graphical models. The handbook targets graduate students and established researchers who seek to understand the latest developments in the field. It also provides a valuable reference for all interested in applying existing methods and/or pursuing methodological extensions. Features: Provides a comprehensive review of methods and applications of Bayesian variable selection. Divided into four parts: Spike-and-Slab Priors; Continuous Shrinkage Priors; Extensions to various Modeling; Other Approaches to Bayesian Variable Selection. Covers theoretical and methodological aspects, as well as worked out examples with R code provided in the online supplement. Includes contributions by experts in the field. Supported by a website with code, data, and other supplementary material

Book Handbook of Measurement Error Models

Download or read book Handbook of Measurement Error Models written by Grace Y. Yi and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Measurement error arises ubiquitously in applications and has been of long-standing concern in a variety of fields, including medical research, epidemiological studies, economics, environmental studies, and survey research. While several research monographs are available to summarize methods and strategies of handling different measurement error problems, research in this area continues to attract extensive attention. The Handbook of Measurement Error Models provides overviews of various topics on measurement error problems. It collects carefully edited chapters concerning issues of measurement error and evolving statistical methods, with a good balance of methodology and applications. It is prepared for readers who wish to start research and gain insights into challenges, methods, and applications related to error-prone data. It also serves as a reference text on statistical methods and applications pertinent to measurement error models, for researchers and data analysts alike. Features: Provides an account of past development and modern advancement concerning measurement error problems Highlights the challenges induced by error-contaminated data Introduces off-the-shelf methods for mitigating deleterious impacts of measurement error Describes state-of-the-art strategies for conducting in-depth research

Book Handbook of Multiple Comparisons

Download or read book Handbook of Multiple Comparisons written by Xinping Cui and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-11-18 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by experts that include originators of some key ideas, chapters in the Handbook of Multiple Testing cover multiple comparison problems big and small, with guidance toward error rate control and insights on how principles developed earlier can be applied to current and emerging problems. Some highlights of the coverages are as follows. Error rate control is useful for controlling the incorrect decision rate. Chapter 1 introduces Tukey's original multiple comparison error rates and point to how they have been applied and adapted to modern multiple comparison problems as discussed in the later chapters. Principles endure. While the closed testing principle is more familiar, Chapter 4 shows the partitioning principle can derive confidence sets for multiple tests, which may become important as the profession goes beyond making decisions based on p-values. Multiple comparisons of treatment efficacy often involve multiple doses and endpoints. Chapter 12 on multiple endpoints explains how different choices of endpoint types lead to different multiplicity adjustment strategies, while Chapter 11 on the MCP-Mod approach is particularly useful for dose-finding. To assess efficacy in clinical trials with multiple doses and multiple endpoints, the reader can see the traditional approach in Chapter 2, the Graphical approach in Chapter 5, and the multivariate approach in Chapter 3. Personalized/precision medicine based on targeted therapies, already a reality, naturally leads to analysis of efficacy in subgroups. Chapter 13 draws attention to subtle logical issues in inferences on subgroups and their mixtures, with a principled solution that resolves these issues. This chapter has implication toward meeting the ICHE9R1 Estimands requirement. Besides the mere multiple testing methodology itself, the handbook also covers related topics like the statistical task of model selection in Chapter 7 or the estimation of the proportion of true null hypotheses (or, in other words, the signal prevalence) in Chapter 8. It also contains decision-theoretic considerations regarding the admissibility of multiple tests in Chapter 6. The issue of selected inference is addressed in Chapter 9. Comparison of responses can involve millions of voxels in medical imaging or SNPs in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 provide state of the art methods for large scale simultaneous inference in these settings.

Book Handbook of Meta Analysis

Download or read book Handbook of Meta Analysis written by Christopher H. Schmid and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meta-analysis is the application of statistics to combine results from multiple studies and draw appropriate inferences. Its use and importance have exploded over the last 25 years as the need for a robust evidence base has become clear in many scientific areas, including medicine and health, social sciences, education, psychology, ecology, and economics. Recent years have seen an explosion of methods for handling complexities in meta-analysis, including explained and unexplained heterogeneity between studies, publication bias, and sparse data. At the same time, meta-analysis has been extended beyond simple two-group comparisons of continuous and binary outcomes to comparing and ranking the outcomes from multiple groups, to complex observational studies, to assessing heterogeneity of effects, and to survival and multivariate outcomes. Many of these methods are statistically complex and are tailored to specific types of data. Key features Rigorous coverage of the full range of current statistical methodology used in meta-analysis Comprehensive, coherent, and unified overview of the statistical foundations behind meta-analysis Detailed description of the primary methods for both univariate and multivariate data Computer code to reproduce examples in chapters Thorough review of the literature with thousands of references Applications to specific types of biomedical and social science data This book is for a broad audience of graduate students, researchers, and practitioners interested in the theory and application of statistical methods for meta-analysis. It is written at the level of graduate courses in statistics, but will be of interest to and readable for quantitative scientists from a range of disciplines. The book can be used as a graduate level textbook, as a general reference for methods, or as an introduction to specialized topics using state-of-the art methods.

Book Mathematical and Statistical Skills in the Biopharmaceutical Industry

Download or read book Mathematical and Statistical Skills in the Biopharmaceutical Industry written by Arkadiy Pitman and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2019-07-15 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mathematical and Statistical Skills in the Biopharmaceutical Industry: A Pragmatic Approach describes a philosophy of efficient problem solving showcased using examples pertinent to the biostatistics function in clinical drug development. It was written to share a quintessence of the authors’ experiences acquired during many years of relevant work in the biopharmaceutical industry. The book will be useful will be useful for biopharmaceutical industry statisticians at different seniority levels and for graduate students who consider a biostatistics-related career in this industry. Features: Describes a system of principles for pragmatic problem solving in clinical drug development. Discusses differences in the work of a biostatistician in small pharma and big pharma. Explains the importance/relevance of statistical programming and data management for biostatistics and necessity for integration on various levels. Describes some useful statistical background that can be capitalized upon in the drug development enterprise. Explains some hot topics and current trends in biostatistics in simple, non-technical terms. Discusses incompleteness of any system of standard operating procedures, rules and regulations. Provides a classification of scoring systems and proposes a novel approach for evaluation of the safety outcome for a completed randomized clinical trial. Presents applications of the problem solving philosophy in a highly problematic transfusion field where many investigational compounds have failed. Discusses realistic planning of open-ended projects.