4 ms·

This is why we do trials.

by radus 4y ago

refurb 4y ago
Incorrect. Pfizer’s inhaled insulin was approved by the FDA. But nobody wanted to use it because it didn’t solve a real problem.
- radus 4y ago
  Allow me to contextualize and re-state: > Unless you can draw a line all the way from diagnostic use to results to improved outcomes, it's just data. This is why we do trials, to figure out if we can draw a straight line from results (pre-clinical) to outcomes (clinical). This is the question that the cancer diagnostic trial will hopefully answer - can we improve outcomes using these diagnostics? I don't completely see the relevance of your story about inhaled insulin. As far as I can tell it was not better than standard of care in a meaningful way, whereas with this trial there really isn't a standard of care to speak of, and this is going to be the largest such trial to date. Plenty of drugs fail to make an impact in the market, for a variety of reasons, which can't always be predicted ahead of time. Elsewhere you write that this is not going to provide actionable information. I largely agree with this statement - as of today. I also think that this trial will provide valuable information about the landscape of cancer diagnostics in general, information which may be increasingly relevant in the future and may turn out to be actionable. This is the most relevant quote from the source article that speaks to why they are doing this: > Q: Given the doubts, why proceed? > A: The exciting thing is, we don’t have screening tests for the lethal cancers like pancreas and ovarian. We’re desperate. But we have to put our emotions aside and do our due diligence to evaluate these technologies and be able to speak with confidence about what this can and can’t do. For 75 million dollars, the cost of a year of maintenance for a handful of fighter jets, I think it's worth it, and I'd much rather have the NCI running this than a private company. If this trial completely falls on its face and public money keeps being expended in this direction, then I would certainly revisit my opinion about the worthiness of trials of this nature.

This is why we do trials.

by radus 4y ago

This is why we do trials.

Incorrect. Pfizer’s inhaled insulin was approved by the FDA. But nobody wanted to use it because it didn’t solve a real problem.

radus 4y ago
Allow me to contextualize and re-state: > Unless you can draw a line all the way from diagnostic use to results to improved outcomes, it's just data. This is why we do trials, to figure out if we can draw a straight line from results (pre-clinical) to outcomes (clinical). This is the question that the cancer diagnostic trial will hopefully answer - can we improve outcomes using these diagnostics? I don't completely see the relevance of your story about inhaled insulin. As far as I can tell it was not better than standard of care in a meaningful way, whereas with this trial there really isn't a standard of care to speak of, and this is going to be the largest such trial to date. Plenty of drugs fail to make an impact in the market, for a variety of reasons, which can't always be predicted ahead of time. Elsewhere you write that this is not going to provide actionable information. I largely agree with this statement - as of today. I also think that this trial will provide valuable information about the landscape of cancer diagnostics in general, information which may be increasingly relevant in the future and may turn out to be actionable. This is the most relevant quote from the source article that speaks to why they are doing this: > Q: Given the doubts, why proceed? > A: The exciting thing is, we don’t have screening tests for the lethal cancers like pancreas and ovarian. We’re desperate. But we have to put our emotions aside and do our due diligence to evaluate these technologies and be able to speak with confidence about what this can and can’t do. For 75 million dollars, the cost of a year of maintenance for a handful of fighter jets, I think it's worth it, and I'd much rather have the NCI running this than a private company. If this trial completely falls on its face and public money keeps being expended in this direction, then I would certainly revisit my opinion about the worthiness of trials of this nature.