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Studies of novel centrally acting drugs in healthy volunteers are traditionally concerned with kinetics and tolerability, but useful information may also be obtained from biomarkers of clinical endpoints. This paper provides a systematic overview of CNS-tests used with SSRIs in healthy subjects. A useful biomarker should meet the following requirements: a consistent response across studies and drugs; a clear response of the biomarker to a therapeutic dose; a dose–response relationship; a plausible relationship between biomarker, pharmacology and pathogenesis.These criteria were applied to all individual tests found in studies of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), performed in healthy subjects since 1966, identified with a systematic MedLine search. Separate databases were created to evaluate the effects of single or multiple dose SSRI-studies, and for amitriptyline whenever the original report included this antidepressant as a positive control. Doses of the antidepressant were divided into high- and low-dose ranges, relative to a medium range of therapeutic doses. For each test, the drug effects were scored as statistically significant impairment/decrease (–), improvement/increase (+) or no change (=) relative to placebo.56 single dose studies and 22 multiple dose studies were identified, investigating the effects of 13 different SSRIs on 171 variants of neuropsychological tests, which could be clustered into seven neuropsychological domains. Low single doses of SSRIs generally stimulated tests of attention and memory. High doses tended to impair visual/auditory and visuomotor systems and subjective performance, while showing an acceleration in motor function. The most pronounced effects were observed using tests that measure flicker discrimination (improvement at low doses: 75%, medium doses: 40%, high doses: 43% of studies); REM sleep (inconsistent decrease after medium doses, decrease in 83% of studies after high doses); and EEG recordings, predominantly in alpha (decrease in 60% and 43% of studies after low and medium doses, respectively) and in theta activity (increase in 43% and 33% of studies after medium and high doses, respectively). Amitriptyline generally impaired central nervous system (CNS) functions, which increased with doses. Multiple doses caused less pronounced effects on the reported tests. The most responsive tests to amitriptyline appeared to be EEG alpha and theta, and REM sleep duration.SSRIs in healthy subjects appear to cause slight stimulating effects after low doses, which tend to diminish with dose. The most consistent effects were observed with flicker discrimination tests, EEG (alpha and beta bands), REM sleep duration, and subjective effects at higher doses. These effects are small compared with amitriptyline and other CNS-active drugs. Multiple dosing with SSRIs caused even fewer measurable differences from placebo, probably due to adaptive processes. SSRI-effects are best detected with a test battery that is sensitive to general CNS-stimulation, but such tests only comprise a very small portion of the close to 200 different methods that were found in current review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of novel centrally acting drugs in healthy volunteers are traditionally concerned with kinetics and tolerability, but useful information may also be obtained from biomarkers of clinical endpoints. A useful biomarker should meet the following requirements: a consistent response across studies and drugs; a clear response of the biomarker to a therapeutic dose; a dose–response relationship; a plausible relationship between biomarker, pharmacology and pathogenesis. In the current review, all individual tests found in studies of benzodiazepine agonists registered for anxiety in healthy volunteers since 1966 were progressively evaluated for compliance with these requirements. A MedLine search yielded 56 different studies, investigating the effects of 16 different benzodiazepines on 73 different (variants of ) neuropsychological tests, which could be clustered into seven neuropsychological domains. Subjective and objective measures of alertness were most sensitive to benzodiazepines. The most consistent effects were observed on saccadic peak velocity (SPV) and visual analogue scores ( VAS) of alertness, where 100% and 79% of all studies respectively showed statistically significant effects. A dose–response relationship could be constructed for temazepam and SPV, which was used to determine dose equivalencies relative to temazepam, for seven different benzodiazepines. These dose equivalencies correlated with the lowest recommended daily maintenance dose (r 2 = 0.737, P < 0.05). This relationship between SPV reduction and clinical efficacy could reflect the clinical practice of aiming for maximum tolerated levels, or it could represent a common basis behind SPV reduction and anxiolytic activity for benzodiazepines (probably sedation). The number of tests used in human psychopharmacology appears to be excessive and their sensitivity and reproducibility low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid increase in cost continues to have negative impact on patients’ accessibility to life-changing anticancer medications. Moreover, the rising cost does not equate to similar increase in medication effectiveness. We recognise our responsibility as a university hospital to tackle this imbalance and strive to provide high quality, sustainable, affordable and accessible care. An active approach in cost containment of expensive and innovative cancer drugs was adopted in our organisation to safeguard accessibility and improve quality of life for patients. In this article, we described four inverventions: 1) identify right patient and minimise overtreatment, 2) in-house medicine production for selected indications, 3) minimise medicine spillages and 4) effective procurement strategies. We call on other hospitals to take action and, favourably, to collaborate on a European level. Together, we will safeguard the current and future care of our patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clinical failure rate for disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) that slow or stop disease progression has been nearly 100% for the major neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs), with many compounds failing in expensive and time-consuming phase 2 and 3 trials for lack of efficacy. Here, we critically review the use of pharmacological and mechanistic biomarkers in early phase clinical trials of DMTs in NDDs, and propose a roadmap for providing early proof-of-concept to increase R&D productivity in this field of high unmet medical need. A literature search was performed on published early phase clinical trials aimed at the evaluation of NDD DMT compounds using MESH terms in PubMed. Publications were selected that reported an early phase clinical trial with NDD DMT compounds between 2010 and November 2020. Attention was given to the reported use of pharmacodynamic (mechanistic and physiological response) biomarkers. A total of 121 early phase clinical trials were identified, of which 89 trials (74%) incorporated one or multiple pharmacodynamic biomarkers. However, only 65 trials (54%) used mechanistic (target occupancy or activation) biomarkers to demonstrate target engagement in humans. The most important categories of early phase mechanistic and response biomarkers are discussed and a roadmap for incorporation of a robust biomarker strategy for early phase NDD DMT clinical trials is proposed. As our understanding of NDDs is improving, there is a rise in potentially disease-modifying treatments being brought to the clinic. Further increasing the rational use of mechanistic biomarkers in early phase trials for these (targeted) therapies can increase R&D productivity with a quick win/fast fail approach in an area that has seen a nearly 100% failure rate to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]