Fast-tracking drug development with biomarkers and companion diagnostics

To fully implement precision medicine, a deeper understanding of biomarkers, companion diagnostics, and their use in clinical trials is needed. Here, we describe key events in biomarker discovery and clinical trial design, and how those stages may be streamlined to fast-track approval of companion diagnostics (CDx). We discuss crucial qualities of a successful CDx that include understanding the prevalence of the marker in the intention to treat population, careful consideration of the scoring scheme that will be used in later clinical trial stages, and reliability of the performance of the CDx, in addition to other necessary features.