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Statistical Methodology for Evaluating a Cell Mediated Immunity-Based HIV Vaccine. Devan V. Mehrotra* and Xiaoming Li Merck Research Laboratories, Blue Bell, PA *e-mail: devan_mehrotra@merck.com Biostat 578A Lecture 4
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Statistical Methodology for Evaluating a Cell Mediated Immunity-Based HIV Vaccine Devan V. Mehrotra* and Xiaoming Li Merck Research Laboratories, Blue Bell, PA *e-mail: devan_mehrotra@merck.com Biostat 578A Lecture 4 Adapted from Devan’s presentation at the ASA/Northeastern Illinois Chapter Meeting October 14, 2004
Outline • Science behind the numbers • Merck’s HIV vaccine project • Proof of concept (POC) efficacy study • Statistical methods • Simulation study • Concluding remarks
Worldwide Distribution of HIV-1 Clades (Subtypes)* A, B, AB, Other B, Other G B A F B, Other B B, AE B, BC B, G, Other G, Other B, O C C B, Other O A, Other A AE, B, Other B, AE, Other AG All G, Other A,C,D B, F, Other Legend C B B B dominant + Another C, Other C B, F O B, AE A B, C All Other Note: *Dominant clades are bolded above; All regions have multiple clades in their populations
Merck’s HIV Vaccine Project • Lead vaccine is an Adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) vector encoding HIV-1 gag, pol and nef genes • Goal: to induce broad cell mediated immune (CMI) responses against HIV that provide at least one of the following: Protection from HIV infection: acquisition or sterilizing immunity. Protection from disease: if infected, low HIV RNA “set point”, preservation of CD4 cells, long term non-progressor (LTNP)-like clinical state.
Proof of Concept (POC) Efficacy Study • Design - Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled - Subjects at high risk of acquiring HIV infection - HIV diagnostic test every 6 mos. (~ 3 yrs. f/up) • Co-Primary Endpoints - HIV infection status (infected/uninfected) - Viral load set-point (vRNA at ~ 3 months after diagnosis of HIV infection) • Secondary/exploratory endpoints: vRNA at 6-18 months, rate of CD4 decline, time to initiation of antiretroviral therapy, etc., for infected subjects
POC Efficacy Study (continued) • Vaccine Efficacy (VE) = • Null Hypothesis: Vaccine is same as Placebo Same HIV infection rates (VE = 0) and Same distribution of viral load among infected subjs. • Alternative Hypothesis: Vaccine is better than Placebo Lower HIV infection rate (VE > 0) and/or Lower viral load for infected subjects who got vaccine • Proof of Concept: reject above composite null hypothesis with at least 95% confidence
Optimal Weights for Viral Load Component of Composite Test (w2) under Different Scenarios
Illustration of Simes, Weighted-Simes, Fisher’s, Weighted-Fisher’s Methods (Hypothetical Examples) Note: w1 = .14, w2 = .86 for weighted-Simes’ and weighted-Fisher’s methods
Critical Boundaries: Simes, Weighted-Simes, Fisher’s, Weighted-Fisher’s Note: w1 = .14, w2 = .86 for weighted Fisher’s method. Boundaries are shown assuming p2 p1
Additional Notation for Two Other MethodsBasic Idea: Plug in viral load = 0 for uninfected subjects
Assumed Distributions for log10(viral laod) SD = 0.75 Placebo μ SD = 0.91 Vaccine μ - δ Note: Assumed VL distribution for vaccine is asymmetric and more variable (mixture of vaccine “non-responders” and “responders”)
Simulation Results: Power ( = 5%, 1-tailed) VE=0%,δ=0.5 VE=0%,δ=1.0
Simulation Results: Power ( = 5%, 1-tailed) VE=30%,δ=0.5 VE=30%,δ=1.0
Simulation Results: Power ( = 5%, 1-tailed) VE=60%,δ=0.5 VE=60%,δ=1.0
Number of Infections Required for Establishing POC*Simes’, Fisher’s, Weighted-Fisher’smethods80% power, =5% (1-tailed)
Challenge for the Merck Vaccine • Pre-existing immunity to Adenovirus Type 5 may prevent or dampen the T cell response to the HIV proteins • In the U.S., ~30-50% of people have neutralizing antibodies to Ad-5 virus • In Southern Africa, ~75-95% of people neutralize Ad-5 • Summary of data from Phase I-II trials • Ad-5 Neut Titers < 18: ~80% vaccinees have a CD8+ ELISpot response • Ad-5 Neut Titers > 1000: ~40% have a response • In responders, geometric mean titer ~200 for vaccinees with Ad-5 Neut Titers < 18; ~100 for vaccinees with Ad-5 Neut Titers > 1000
Concluding Remarks • For a POC trial of a CMI-based HIV vaccine, Fisher’s (and Simes’) methods are good choices. • If the composite null hypothesis is rejected at the 5% level, the p-values for the two endpoints can each be assessed separately at the 5% level. • Challenges for the viral load analysis: - Initiation of antiretroviral therapy < 3 months after HIV+ diagnosis (“missing” vRNA data) - Important to add “sensitivity analyses” to safeguard against potential selection bias (e.g., Gilbert et al, 2003). - Estimating causal effect of vaccine on post- infection viral load (ongoing research)
References • Chang MN, Guess HA, Heyse JF (1994). Reduction in the burden of illness: a new efficacy measure for prevention trials. Statistics in Medicine, 13, 1807-1814. • Chen J, Gould AL, Nessly ML. Comparing two treatments by using a biomarker with assay limit. Statistics in Medicine, in press. • Fisher RA (1932). Statistical methods for research workers. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh and London. • Follman D (1995). Multivariate tests for multiple endpoints in clinical trials. Statistics in Medicine, 14, 1163-1175. • Gilbert PB, Bosch RJ, Hudgens MG. Sensitivity analysis for the assessment of causal vaccine effects on viral load in HIv vaccine clinical trials. Biometrics, 59, 531-541. • Good IJ (1955). On the weighted combination of significance tests. Biometrika, 264-265. • Hochberg Y, Liberman U (1994). An extended Simes’ test. Statistics & Probability Letters, 21, 101-105. • Lachenbruch PA (1976). Analysis of data with clumping at zero. Biometrische Zeitschrift, 18, 351-356. • O’Brien PC (1984). Procedures for comparing samples with multiple endpoints. Biometrics, 40, 1079-1087.