Locally Optimal Designs for Some Dose-Response Models With Continuous Endpoints.

We consider the problem of constructing static (or non-sequential), approximate optimal designs for a class of dose response models with continuous outcomes. We obtain conditions for a design being -optimal or -optimal. The designs are locally optimal in that they depend on the model parameters. The efficiency studies show that these designs have high efficiency when the mis-specification of the initial values of model parameters is not severe. A case study indicates that using an optimal design may result in a significant saving of resources.