There has been substantial growth in the use of data monitoring committees in recent years, by both government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry. This growth has been brought about by increasing recognition of the value of such committees in safeguarding trial participants as well as protecting trial integrity and the validity of conclusions. This very timely book describes the operation of data monitoring committees, and provides an authoritative guide to their establishment, purpose and responsibilities. * Provides a practical overview of data monitoring in clinical trials. * Describes the purpose, responsibilities and operation of data monitoring committees. * Provides directly applicable advice for those managing and conducting clinical trials, and those serving on data monitoring committees. * Gives insight into clinical data monitoring to those sitting on regulatory and ethical committees. * Discusses issues pertinent to those working in clinical trials in both the US and Europe. The practical guidance provided by this book will be of use to professionals working in and/or managing clinical trials, in academic, government and industry settings, particularly medical statisticians, clinicians, trial co-ordinators, and those working in regulatory affairs and bioethics.

From the authors of "Fundamentals of Clinical Trials" which has sold over 15,000 copies world wide since its publication in 1998. No competition yet as the text does not focus on how to do clinical trials but on very specific situations that can be encountered during the process.

Clinical research monitoring is a vital aspect of Good Clinical Practice (GCP). Its principles are straightforward: they are aimed at protecting those subjects that participate in the trial, and their goal is to provide reliable data that will contribute to the safety and efficacy of the intervention under study, i.e. to support the health of future subjects. However, the practical implementation of these major goals is complicated. Various mishaps have happened in recent history, and an extensive set of international rules and regulations have emerged.This book gives a thorough survey of the ethical and legal aspects of clinical research and provides a detailed guideline for implementing these aspects into the practice of studying investigational medicinal products in humans, in the European context. It can be used as a study aid for starting monitors, a reference guide for more experienced monitors, and anyone else involved in clinical research.Related Link(s)

Praise for the first edition: "Given the author’s years of experience as a statistician and as a founder of the first DMC in pharmaceutical industry trials, I highly recommend this book—not only for experts because of its cogent and organized presentation, but more importantly for young investigators who are seeking information about the logistical and philosophical aspects of a DMC." -S. T. Ounpraseuth, The American Statistician In the first edition of this well-regarded book, the author provided a groundbreaking and definitive guide to best practices in pharmaceutical industry data monitoring committees (DMCs). Maintaining all the material from the first edition and adding substantial new material, Data and Safety Monitoring Committees in Clinical Trials, Second Edition is ideal for training professionals to serve on their first DMC as well as for experienced clinical and biostatistical DMC members, sponsor and regulatory agency staff. The second edition guides the reader through newly emerging DMC responsibilities brought about by regulations emphasizing risk vs benefit and the emergence of risk-based monitoring. It also provides the reader with many new statistical methods, clinical trial designs and clinical terminology that have emerged since the first edition. The references have been updated and the very popular end-of-chapter Q&A section has been supplemented with many new experiences since the first edition. New to the Second Edition: Presents statistical methods, tables, listings and graphs appropriate for safety review, efficacy analysis and risk vs benefit analysis, SPERT and PRISMA initiatives. Newly added interim analysis for efficacy and futility section. DMC responsibilities in SUSARs (Serious Unexpected Serious Adverse Reactions), basket trials, umbrella trials, dynamic treatment strategies /SMART trials, pragmatic trials, biosimilar trials, companion diagnostics, etc. DMC responsibilities for data quality and fraud detection (Fraud Recovery Plan) Use of patient reported outcomes of safety Use of meta analysis and data outside the trial New ideas for training and compensation of DMC members Jay Herson is Senior Associate, Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where he teaches courses on clinical trials and drug development based on his many years experience in clinical trials in academia and the pharmaceutical industry.

Drug Monitoring and Clinical Chemistry, the 5th volume in the Handbook of Analytical Separations series, gives an overview about methods to analyse drugs in biological fluids. The most widely used methods to analyse drugs in biological fluids. i.e. chromatographic methods, CE and immunoassays are described in detail. For important drugs, an overview about the methods available and a comparison of the techniques should be given to enable the reader to choose the right method depending on laboratory equipment, staff, the aim of the investigation etc. Other general aspects important for conducting therapeutic drug monitoring or pharmacokinetics studies are also covered, i.e. sample preparation, validation of the analytical methods and pharmacokinetic methods for interpreting the data. Areas where therapeutic drug monitoring is used frequently such as antibiotics, immunosuppressant drugs, antipsychotic and anticancer drugs will be discussed in detail. In addition, the important field of phenotyping and genotyping for therapy optimisation with special focus on real-life applications is also covered. The book contains important information for analyst working on drug analysis in clinical chemistry, hospital pharmacists involved in therapeutic drug monitoring, other pharmacists, chemists or physicians working on pharmacokinetic studies in industry or academia. In contrast to other books in this field, this book provides up-to-date information regarding both methodology and clinical applications. For the applications, only fields are described where therapeutic drug monitoring is used in clinical routine and provides benefit to the patients. - Overview of all important field where therapeutic drug monitoring is applied - All relevant analytical and computational methods are discussed - Written by experts with a lot of practical experience in the field

Clinical Challenges in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring: Special Populations, Physiological Conditions and Pharmacogenomics focuses on critical issues in therapeutic drug monitoring including special requirements of therapeutic drug monitoring important to special populations (infants and children, pregnant women, elderly patients, and obese patients). The book also covers issues of free drug monitoring and common interferences in using immunoassays for therapeutic drug monitoring. This book is essential reading for any clinician, fellow, or trainee who wants to gain greater insight into the process of therapeutic drug monitoring for individual dosage adjustment and avoiding drug toxicity for certain drugs within a narrow therapeutic window. The book is written specifically for busy clinicians, fellows, and trainees who order therapeutic drug monitoring and need to get more familiar with testing methodologies, issues of interferences, and interpretation of results in certain patient populations.