Staburo’s biostatisticians and statistical programmers enjoyed a wonderful event that was combining team spirit, mental strength, physical fitness and a lot of fun. We spent a great afternoon – not in a Random Forest – but in the Climbing Forest near Munich (www.kletterwald-muenchen.de). The first challenge was “Visa for Bavaria”, to test our assimilation status in this particular region in Germany. We started with more or less typical Bavarian activities, like beer stein holding and sliding, nail tapping, barrel rolling, sawing and skiing. Furthermore, our Bavarian language skills were tested in a single-blinded trial. This was followed by fresh coffee and excellent homemade chocolate cake, to refill our energy level.

After the security introduction, we distributed ourselves equally to the five climbing routes, with different difficulty levels. Up in the trees, we could speed up in “flying foxes”, ride a sled and even drive a bobby car. The routes are up to 12 meters high, but for people who are afraid of heights, there are also lower options.

In the evening, the Kletterwald Team organized a delicious barbecue, during which we could share climbing experiences with each other. Since we all did a great job in activities and quizzes, everyone also got a certificate for the “Visa for Bavaria” game, including funny prizes. We even think about including some of these tests in our introductory training for new employees.

This team event at the Climbing Forest was very exciting and we all will come back soon!

Staburo submitted comments on EMA’s draft guideline on multiplicity issues in clinical trials. Multiplicity issues arise in many areas of clinical development, including biosimilars  and translational medicine. The guideline is intended to provide guidance on how to deal with multiple comparison and control of type I error in the planning and statistical analysis of clinical trials.

Following our Strategy Workshop with Dr. Thilo Pfletschinger from 3DSE in May, we presented and discussed the results with all Staburo employees.

Our mission statement is a short statement of our organization’s purpose, identifying the scope of our operations. It includes information about our key market, our contribution to customers and our distinction from other biostatistics service providers.

Staburo’s mission statement:

• Staburo offers high-quality statistical services for pharmaceutical, CRO and biotech companies.
• We are a reliable and flexible partner for our clients.
• Staburo provides advanced statistical solutions, like cross-over correction, high-dimensional biomarker analysis and bayesian modeling.
• Working with leading pharma companies, we know how to successfully bring compounds to the patient.

Furthermore, we presented our Vision, Values, common Goals and a Strategy Map for the next five years.

Staburo provided statistical support for a biomarker study that was recently published in the Journal Lung Cancer. The manuscript describes a retrospective analysis to assess the ability of the VeriStrat serum protein test to predict clinical benefit with afatinib versus erlotinib (predictive effect), and the association of VeriStrat status with overall clinical outcomes (prognostic effect) in LUX-Lung 8.

Highlights of the publication

• Clinical utility of the VeriStrat serum protein test was assessed in LUX-Lung 8.
• Patients were classified as VeriStrat ‘Good’ (VS-G) or VeriStrat ‘Poor’ (VS-P).
• VS-G classification is associated with favorable survival outcomes versus VS-P.
• In VS-G patients, survival outcomes are superior with afatinib versus erlotinib.

The full publication can be read here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016950021730329X

The Staburo team once again proved that it has endurance, power and a great finish. This time, for a change, not in biostatistics projects – but in the 2017 B2RUN Munich, alongside 30,000 other runners.

The race track was 6.1km long and took us through the picturesque 1972 Olympic Park, which alone was worth the hardship. We may not have been the fastest overall, but we claim to have finished as No. 1 in the biostatistics consulting category.

If other companies want to challenge this, please send us the exact data. One of our statistics experts will check it out – be aware that very fast outliers will not be analysed here.

After the B2RUN, we relaxed and had dinner together at the greek restaurant ‘Kalypso’ in Munich. Great weather, great event, great team!