Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: A fundamental challenge in drug development is the frequent failure of early laboratory research to translate into clinical benefit. One promising solution is to confirm findings from exploratory single-laboratory studies across multiple laboratories before clinical testing. We investigated this approach following the conduct of preclinical multi-laboratory studies across different fields of medicine. For this, we evaluated effect sizes, experimental rigor, and a set of criteria to identify determinants of confirmation success. When tested under increased rigor, only a fraction of multi-laboratory studies confirmed the initial results. The underlying effect size reduction was associated with outcome-relevant experimental differences between exploratory and confirmatory stages. In summary, multi-laboratory studies proved highly informative and served as an effective filter for promising treatments. One Sentence Summary Confirmatory testing of exploratory findings in rigorous multi-laboratory settings reveals which hold up and what limits their translation.
Authors: Pasquale Pellegrini, Sophia C. Rotter, María Arroyo-Araujo, Clarissa F. D. Carneiro, Natascha I. Drude, Lorena Martinez Gamboa, Ana Banito, Nadine Bernhardt, Anne-Laure Boulesteix, Frank Buttgereit, Astrid Dempfle, Nayar Durán-Hernández, Timo Gaber, Marcus Groettrup, Bettina Habelt, Bernhard Haller, Hazem Hamza, Simone Hettmer, Anca Kliesow Remes, Sebastian Kobold, Merle Kochan, Frank Konietschke, Lorenz H. Lehmann, Max Löhning, Andrea Matzen, Marcus W. Meinhardt, Helen Morrison, Oliver J. Müller, Oliver Planz, Günther H. S. Richter, Lars B. Riecken, Steffen K. Rosahl, Kerstin Rubarth, Katharina Schmidt-Bleek, Lena Schuler, Arunabh Sharma, Ivan Skorodumov, Rainer Spanagel, Irene Teichert-von Luettichau, Matthias Tenbusch, Mohsen Valadan, Juliane C. Wilcke, Ulf Toelch
Institutions: Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, German Cancer Research Center, National Center for Tumor Diseases, Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg, Technische Universität Dresden, Munich Center for Machine Learning, Institut für Medizinische Informationsverarbeitung, Biometrie und Epidemiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, German Rheumatism Research Centre, Stiftung Charité, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, University of Konstanz, Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology Thurgau, Technical University of Munich, National Research Centre, University of Tübingen, University of Freiburg, University Medical Center Freiburg, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, LMU Klinikum, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Central Institute of Mental Health, Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Helios Klinikum Erfurt, HMU Health and Medical University Erfurt, München Klinik Schwabing, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen
Language: English
Subfield: Small Animals
Field: Veterinary
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214339474