Dassault Systèmes, in collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has announced the publication of a comprehensive guide for leveraging virtual twins in medical device clinical trials. This initiative follows a five-year collaboration and aims to accelerate the clinical trial process while enhancing patient safety and regulatory compliance.
The "ENRICHMENT Playbook" offers a hierarchical framework and strategic approach for establishing credibility in medical device in silico clinical trials. This peer-reviewed, open-access guide addresses the challenges associated with integrating virtual twins into the regulatory process. The project focused on creating virtual twins capable of simulating patient populations with unprecedented accuracy, facilitating the refinement, reduction, and potential replacement of traditional human and animal testing methods.
Key Components of the ENRICHMENT Playbook
The playbook provides industry stakeholders with actionable knowledge on conducting trials, building representative patient populations, and interpreting trial results. This enables a more thorough understanding of a device's effects before it reaches patients. According to Claire Biot, Vice President, Life Sciences and Healthcare Industry, Dassault Systèmes, the playbook marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of clinical trial methodologies as the healthcare industry embraces digital transformation.
Alignment with FDA Guidance
The ENRICHMENT Playbook aligns with the FDA's final guidance on assessing the credibility of computational modeling and simulation in medical device submissions. It is also featured in the CDRH/OSEL Regulatory Science Tools Catalog. The development of the playbook involved extensive collaboration among leaders from the FDA’s Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, clinical practice, academia, the medical device industry, and regulatory science.
Impact and Accessibility
The guide is designed to be immediately applicable in the field, ensuring that it meets the highest scientific and regulatory standards. The authors discussed outcomes and opportunities at Dassault Systèmes’ International Virtual Human Twin Experience Symposium in Paris. The playbook is expected to drive collaborative innovation in the sector, ultimately improving the patient experience by providing safer and more effective medical devices.
