Clinical research continues to evolve at an impressive pace. Digital technologies streamline data capture, biomarkers deepen biological insight, and innovative trial designs broaden access for diverse populations. These advances have unquestionably accelerated development and expanded participant reach. Still, across all this progress, one dimension consistently shapes outcomes yet remains underrepresented in planning, modeling, and oversight: patient behavior. Behavioral factors like motivation,
Topic: Placebo Response
Cognivia is pleased to announce its participation in the OARSI World Congress 2026, taking place in Florida from April 23 to April 26, 2026. During the event, our team will present new findings on placebo response modelling using psychological characteristics in a remote osteoarthritis trial — an approach that strengthens signal detection and improves the
Placebo-controlled clinical trials are the gold standard in drug development, in part to ensure that the efficacy of a new therapy exceeds the placebo response in the indication being studied. The placebo response is a measured improvement in clinical signs or symptoms that occurs in patients receiving a sham (or “dummy”) treatment. The placebo response is a
A growing body of work has demonstrated that pain perception can be modulated by social, cultural, contextual and interpersonal factors.1,2,3,4 Beyond this, patient trust in their doctor – an important component of the doctor-patient relationship – has been shown to positively influence patient health outcomes. A growing body of research is also showing that the placebo effects have
The overall risk of clinical trial failure is still too high – meaning more repeat trials, lost timelines and premature abandonment of programs. In part, this is because of the placebo response: the measured improvement of a patient in a trial after receiving a sham treatment. While a high placebo response doesn’t necessarily mean the
While significant placebo responses rates are often noted in clinical trials for indications like pain and depression, this issue can plague drug development in any therapeutic area – particularly in diseases that rely on subjective or patient-reported outcomes as primary efficacy endpoints. Quality of life (QoL) endpoints, for example, are often used to measure therapeutic efficacy in oncology clinical trials – but also in diseases like schizophrenia, pain, heart failure, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), allergy and pruritus.