Accelerating drug development for Alzheimer's disease through the use of data standards

INTRODUCTION: The exceedingly high rate of failed trials in Alzheimer's disease (AD) calls for immediate attention to improve efficiencies and learning from past, ongoing, and future trials. Accurate, highly rigorous standardized data are at the core of meaningful scientific research. Data standards allow for proper integration of clinical data sets and represent the essential foundation for regulatory endorsement of drug development tools. Such tools increase the potential for success and accuracy of trial results. METHODS: The development of the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) AD therapeutic area data standard was a comprehensive collaborative effort by CDISC and Coalition Against Major Diseases, a consortium of the Critical Path Institute. Clinical concepts for AD and mild cognitive impairment were defined and a data standards user guide was created from various sources of input, including data dictionaries used in AD clinical trials and observational studies. RESULTS: A comprehensive collection of AD-specific clinical data standards consisting of clinical outcome measures, leading candidate genes, and cerebrospinal fluid and imaging biomarkers was developed. The AD version 2.0 (V2.0) Therapeutic Area User Guide was developed by diverse experts working with data scientists across multiple consortia through a comprehensive review and revision process. The AD CDISC standard is a publicly available resource to facilitate widespread use and implementation. DISCUSSION: The AD CDISC V2.0 data standard serves as a platform to catalyze reproducible research, data integration, and efficiencies in clinical trials. It allows for the mapping and integration of available data and provides a foundation for future studies, data sharing, and long-term registries in AD. The availability of consensus data standards for AD has the potential to facilitate clinical trial initiation and increase sharing and aggregation of data across observational studies and among clinical trials, thereby improving our understanding of disease progression and treatment.