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With the International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) E17 guidelines in effect from 2018, the design of Asia‐inclusive multiregional clinical trials (MRCTs) has been streamlined, thereby enabling efficient simultaneous global development. Furthermore, with the recent regulatory reforms in China and its drug administration joining the ICH as a full regulatory member, early participation of China in the global clinical development of novel investigational drugs is now feasible. This would also allow for inclusion of the region in the geographic footprint of pivotal MRCTs leveraging principles of the ICH E5 and E17. Herein, we describe recent case examples of model‐informed Asia‐inclusive global clinical development in the EMD Serono portfolio, as applied to the ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3‐related inhibitors, tuvusertib and berzosertib (oncology), the toll‐like receptor 7/8 antagonist, enpatoran (autoimmune diseases), the mesenchymal–epithelial transition factor inhibitor tepotinib (oncology), and the antimetabolite cladribine (neuroimmunological disease). Through these case studies, we illustrate pragmatic approaches to ethnic sensitivity assessments and the application of a model‐informed drug development toolkit including population pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling and pharmacometric disease progression modeling and simulation to enable early conduct of Asia‐inclusive MRCTs. These examples demonstrate the value of a Totality of Evidence approach where every patient's data matter for de‐risking ethnic sensitivity to inter‐population variations in drug‐ and disease‐related intrinsic and extrinsic factors, enabling inclusive global development strategies and timely evidence generation for characterizing benefit/risk of the proposed dosage in Asian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cetuximab was initially developed and approved as a first‐line treatment in patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) for weekly administration (250 mg/m2 Q1W with 400 mg/m2 loading dose). An every‐2‐weeks schedule (500 mg/m2 Q2W) was approved recently by several health authorities. Being synchronized with chemotherapy, Q2W administration should improve patients' convenience and healthcare resource utilization. Herein, we present evidence of non‐inferiority of Q2W cetuximab, compared with Q1W dosing using pharmacometrics modeling and clinical trial simulation (CTS). Pooled data from five phase I–III clinical trials in 852 patients with KRAS wild‐type mCRC treated with Q1W or Q2W cetuximab were modeled using a population exposure–tumor size (TS) model linked to overall survival (OS); exposure was derived from a previously established population pharmacokinetic model. A semi‐mechanistic TS model adapted from the Claret model incorporated killing rate proportional to cetuximab area under the concentration‐time curve over 2 weeks (AUC) with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) status as covariate on baseline TS. The OS was modeled with Weibull hazard using ECOG, baseline TS, primary tumor location, and predicted percent change in TS at 8 weeks as covariates. Model‐based simulations revealed indistinguishable early tumor shrinkage and survival between Q2W vs. Q1W cetuximab. CTS evaluated OS non‐inferiority (predefined margin of 1.25) in 1,000 trials, each with 2,000 virtual patients receiving Q2W or Q1W cetuximab (1:1), and demonstrated non‐inferiority in 94% of cases. Taken together, these analyses provide model‐based evidence for clinical non‐inferiority of Q2W vs. Q1W cetuximab in mCRC with potential benefits to patients and healthcare providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose new proxy variables for monetary policy shocks in Japan for the period from July 1989 to March 2001 and investigate the effects of changes in the policy target variable on stock prices and the term structure of interest rates. We find that changes in the surprise component of the target variable significantly affect both intermediate-term and long-term interest rates. A surprise decrease in the target rate of 1% leads, on average, to a 3% increase in stock prices. The magnitudes of estimated reactions of financial variables are similar in Japan and the US.

With the International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) E17 guidelines in effect from 2018, the design of Asia-inclusive multiregional clinical trials (MRCTs) has been streamlined, thereby enabling efficient simultaneous global development. Furthermore, with the recent regulatory reforms in China and its drug administration joining the ICH as a full regulatory member, early participation of China in the global clinical development of novel investigational drugs is now feasible. This would also allow for inclusion of the region in the geographic footprint of pivotal MRCTs leveraging principles of the ICH E5 and E17. Herein, we describe recent case examples of model-informed Asia-inclusive global clinical development in the EMD Serono portfolio, as applied to the ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related inhibitors, tuvusertib and berzosertib (oncology), the toll-like receptor 7/8 antagonist, enpatoran (autoimmune diseases), the mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor inhibitor tepotinib (oncology), and the antimetabolite cladribine (neuroimmunological disease). Through these case studies, we illustrate pragmatic approaches to ethnic sensitivity assessments and the application of a model-informed drug development toolkit including population pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling and pharmacometric disease progression modeling and simulation to enable early conduct of Asia-inclusive MRCTs. These examples demonstrate the value of a Totality of Evidence approach where every patient's data matter for de-risking ethnic sensitivity to inter-population variations in drug- and disease-related intrinsic and extrinsic factors, enabling inclusive global development strategies and timely evidence generation for characterizing benefit/risk of the proposed dosage in Asian populations., (© 2024 The Author(s). Clinical and Translational Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.)