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Compound Evidence InstituteEvidence synthesis · established 2023Graded assessments of compounds, trials, methods and supply
Document set current to 30 July 2026
Defined term · Trial design and conduct

Non-inferiority

A design testing whether a treatment is not worse than a comparator by more than a pre-specified margin. A non-inferiority result does not establish superiority over placebo, and the Institute does…

Document identifier
CEI-GT-040
Series
Defined term
Version
1.0
Published
30 Jul 2026
Last reviewed
30 Jul 2026
Certainty
Not rated

§1Non-inferiority

§1.2Category

Trial design and conduct — Terms describing how a clinical study is constructed and run.

§1.3Related terms

  • Active-controlled — A design in which the comparator is another active treatment. Establishes a difference between the two treatments and not an effect against no treatment.
  • Margin — The largest difference, specified before the trial, that would still be regarded as acceptable in a non-inferiority design. A non-inferiority conclusion is only as…
Compound Evidence Institute · CEI-GT-040 · https://compoundevidence.com/glossary/non-inferiority/ · retrieved 30 July 2026
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