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Surrogate Endpoint

Meaning

A surrogate endpoint is a laboratory measure, physical sign, or radiological finding that is intended to substitute for a clinically meaningful endpoint, such as morbidity or mortality, and is expected to predict the effect of a therapeutic intervention. In clinical trials, especially in the hormonal health space, a surrogate endpoint like an increase in IGF-1 (for Growth Hormone therapy) or a reduction in HbA1c (for diabetes treatment) is used to accelerate the evaluation of drug efficacy. The reliability of a surrogate endpoint depends entirely on its strong correlation with the true clinical outcome of interest.