Evaluating Synergy

<p><b>Design and analyze drug combination studies with statistical precision</b> <p>Identifying synergistic drug combinations requires rigorous statistical methodology to distinguish true interactions from simple additivity. <i>Evaluating Synergy: Statistical Design and Analysis of Drug Combination Studies</i> presents modern methods for optimally designing and analyzing combination studies in cancer, antiviral, and other therapeutic areas. Written by biostatisticians and a physician-scientist with decades of drug development experience, this book integrates statistical theory with practical pharmacology. <p>The book covers quantitative analysis of dose-effect data and experimental designs for two-drug, three-drug, and multi-drug combinations using systems biology pathway information. Readers gain a practical pipeline for identifying promising combinations through limited experimentation and single-drug data. Case studies demonstrate how efficient experimental design identified synergistic combinations in preclinical models that informed clinical protocols and led to meaningful patient benefit. <p>Readers will also find: <ul> <li>Statistical theory, methods, and computational algorithms for analyzing multidrug combinations, supported by an accompanying website featuring R code and datasets</li> <li>Detailed guidance on distinguishing simple additivity from true drug interactions and interpreting their biological and clinical significance </li> <li>Experimental design approaches for validating selected combinations in both in vivo studies and early-stage clinical trials across therapeutic areas</li> <li>Applications to herbal formulation design in phytomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine using systems biology and pathway information </li> <li>Real-world examples showing how preclinical findings translated to clinical development, including a cancer trial demonstrating significant patient benefit</li> </ul> <p>Designed for scientists in translational research, statisticians in drug development, and researchers in biostatistics and pharmacology, <i>Evaluating Synergy</i> serves as both a practical reference and an upper-graduate and graduate-level textbook. Readers need only a foundation in introductory statistics and linear regression.