Testing parallelism for the four-parameter logistic model with D-optimal design

In order to determine the potency of the test preparation relative to the standard preparation, it is often important to test parallelism between a pair of dose-response curves of reference standard and test sample. Optimal designs are known to be more powerful in testing parallelism as compared to classical designs. In this study, D-optimal design was implemented to study the parallelism and compare+ its performance with a classical design. We modified D-optimal design to test the parallelism in the four-parameter logistic (4PL) model using Intersection-Union Test (IUT). IUT method is appropriate when the null hypothesis is expressed as a union of sets, and by using this method complicated tests involving several parameters are easily constructed. Since D-optimal design minimizes the variances of model parameters, it can bring more power to the IUT test. A simulation study will be presented to compare the empirical properties of the two different designs.