Melanoma International Collaboration for Adaptive Trials (MICAT)

AIM at Melanoma (AIM) is establishing a patient-centric, multi-arm clinical trial that brings effective melanoma therapies to market faster.

Traditional Clinical Trials: Controlled Approach, Limited Results

In traditional drug trials, new therapies are tested one at a time against the standard of care, a slow approach to finding new treatments. Patients are randomized to the standard therapy or the new therapy, and regardless of how they are faring, continue with their therapy until the end of the study or, sadly, their death. Often a study ends with the finding that the new treatment is no better than the standard approach, a disappointing result that costs lives.

Adaptive Trials: A Better, Smarter Way

Adaptive trials are different in three important ways. First, they have multiple arms—multiple new treatments are simultaneously compared to the standard of care. Second, adaptive trial protocol allows researchers to review results as the study progresses and reassign patients to treatment groups that are performing better. Finally, adaptive trials are bio-marker driven, allowing researchers to collect and use data that will yield personalized treatments. In short, adaptive trials lead to personalized therapies and faster answers on a drug’s efficacy—and save lives in the process.

MICAT comprises academic, regulatory, and industry partners, including:

AIM at Melanoma
IMWG (International Melanoma Working Group, an AIM initiative)
Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC
Berry Consultants
RA Capital
Industry partners

MICAT’s Potential

Both the F.D.A. and the U.S. Congress see great promise in adaptive drug trials, because they use fewer patients while finding effective drugs faster, without jeopardizing patient safety. MICAT will use this adaptive trial design to test new drugs on patients whose previously treated melanoma has spread.

MICAT’s Goals

Match the right treatment to the right patient
Use biomarkers to guide treatment options
Identify which treatments will increase survival
Determine which treatments should be used first…second…third

MICAT will get the right drug to the right patient at the right time — and MICAT will do this faster than traditional clinical trials.

We Need Your Support

MICAT is seeking financial support for this groundbreaking crusade to find the CURE. To learn how you can help transform the discovery of effective treatments, contact Alicia Rowell, Vice President of AIM at Melanoma, at Alicia@AIMatMelanoma.org.