Study failure is every sponsor’s biggest nightmare, and there are multiple reasons why it could happen. These may include a failure to properly recruit the correct study patients, missing study-critical data, or the drug not demonstrating the anticipated efficacy. Although there are few solutions when the drug does not exhibit its predicted efficacy, other risks to failure can be minimised or avoided by carefully identifying the study’s potential pitfalls when planning it. Katrien Timmermans of SGS details how studies can be planned to minimise the risk of failure.