For more than half a century, placebo controls have enhanced drug development. Their use has helped researchers understand which drugs deliver measurably better health outcomes, compared with administering inert compounds. But the global research community also recognizes that inflated placebo responses in a trial’s control arm can blur signal detection, distort research findings and lead to study failure—even though the medicine brings genuine benefits.
Research teams at Syneos Health constantly monitor scientific and industry literature on placebo effects. These investigations shed new light the underlying psychobiological mechanisms and sometimes hint at new mitigation strategies. But because each clinical trial is different, simple checklists of placebo do’s-and-don’ts are never more than works in progress.
Read this white paper to learn how to flawlessly execute clinical trials to protocol, on time and within budget with a placebo mitigation strategy.
