IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v11y2020i1d10.1038_s41467-020-16442-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Designing antifilarial drug trials using clinical trial simulators

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Walker

    (London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research, Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, University of London
    London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London)

  • Jonathan I. D. Hamley

    (London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London
    MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London)

  • Philip Milton

    (London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London
    MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London)

  • Frédéric Monnot

    (Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, 15 Chemin Louis-Dunant 1202)

  • Belén Pedrique

    (Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, 15 Chemin Louis-Dunant 1202)

  • Maria-Gloria Basáñez

    (London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London
    MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London)

Abstract

Lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) targeted for elimination by mass (antifilarial) drug administration. These drugs are predominantly active against the microfilarial progeny of adult worms. New drugs or combinations are needed to improve patient therapy and to enhance the effectiveness of interventions in persistent hotspots of transmission. Several therapies and regimens are currently in (pre-)clinical testing. Clinical trial simulators (CTSs) project patient outcomes to inform the design of clinical trials but have not been widely applied to NTDs, where their resource-saving payoffs could be highly beneficial. We demonstrate the utility of CTSs using our individual-based onchocerciasis transmission model (EPIONCHO-IBM) that projects trial outcomes of a hypothetical macrofilaricidal drug. We identify key design decisions that influence the power of clinical trials, including participant eligibility criteria and post-treatment follow-up times for measuring infection indicators. We discuss how CTSs help to inform target product profiles.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Walker & Jonathan I. D. Hamley & Philip Milton & Frédéric Monnot & Belén Pedrique & Maria-Gloria Basáñez, 2020. "Designing antifilarial drug trials using clinical trial simulators," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-16442-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16442-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16442-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-020-16442-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-16442-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.