What is an adaptive design?
An adaptive study design is one that examines the data as it is collected and then makes changes to (or adapts) the study to optimize the amount of information gathered by the study. There are many different varieties, including the following: • Sample size recalculations • Adaptive randomizations • Bayesian dose escalation studies • Seamless phase II/III designs • Pruning designs Each of these examples looks at different parts of the study (eg, the stratification factors of the randomization) and then allocates the future subjects based on what we’ve observed so far. Each one optimizes different aspects of the study, however, so they have vastly different benefits.
