The Lancet Infectious Diseases in conversation with In Conversation with Steven Tong and Joshua Davis on adaptive platform trials
Oct 23, 2025
Professors Steven Tong and Joshua Davis, experts in infectious diseases and design of clinical trials, delve into adaptive platform trials. They discuss the pros and cons, emphasizing efficiency and the risk of complexity. The duo explains why these trials surged during COVID-19 and the variety of adaptations possible. They share tips for successful implementation, including the importance of experienced teams and community engagement. Finally, they highlight groundbreaking upcoming trials that could revolutionize infectious disease treatment.
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Platform Means Multiple Questions In One Trial
- Adaptive platform trials study a disease with shared infrastructure and multiple questions in parallel. They replace fixed sample sizes with pre-specified adaptive rules to continue until conclusions are reached.
Build Shared Infrastructure For Efficiency
- Use shared infrastructure and let patients contribute to multiple questions to improve efficiency. Expect higher upfront complexity and longer startup time compared with conventional trials.
Controls Stay Domain-Specific
- Within each domain one intervention usually acts as the control and comparisons are made only within that domain. Non-concurrent controls can arise and require statistical adjustment or sensitivity analyses.