Research is a Ladder

Research has too often been treated like a zero-sum game.

In life sciences, the pressure to hit regulatory and market access milestones has made clinical trials so high-stakes and expensive that only the most pristine, fully powered studies are considered worthwhile. In consumer health, the default has become jumping straight into randomized, placebo-controlled trials—not because it’s always appropriate, but because it’s what looks the most credible.

Let’s be clear: the double-blind, placebo-controlled RCT is still the gold standard. The best studies are designed to generate evidence that can’t be dismissed as bias or chance. But here’s the problem: if we only focus on what’s “best,” we ignore the real question—what’s best right now.

We believe research isn’t a binary. It’s a ladder.

One Rung at a Time

At Alethios, we built our platform around this principle: research should be iterative, accessible, and designed to grow and improve. That’s why our AI QuickStart tool literally walks teams through the idea of a research ladder—suggesting starting points like single-arm observational studies, structured testimonials, or open-label trials depending on their goals, evidence maturity, and budget.

Why?

1. Not every intervention is ready for an RCT.

You may not have enough signal in your early data to know what question to ask. That’s risky. You might waste precious resources chasing multiple endpoints, underpowering your study, and ultimately ending up with results that are neither clear nor credible.

Starting with structured observational research or a pilot lets you identify patterns, refine hypotheses, and focus on endpoints that actually matter.

2. Not every intervention is appropriate for an RCT.

Control arms are critical, but they come in many forms. A crossover design may be more suitable if participants can act as their own controls—especially in nutrition, wellness, and emerging therapeutic areas where individual traits strongly influence outcomes.

You can’t find the best study design unless you understand how your intervention behaves.

3. Skipping steps sets you up to fail.

If you haven’t validated your assumptions—on population, timing, measurement, or response—you risk designing a beautiful study that answers the wrong question. Or worse, a study that encourages bias because you can only afford to run it once.

4. The one-shot mindset encourages bad science.

When one trial is your only shot, it becomes tempting to cut corners. But real credibility demands transparency, not cherry-picked endpoints or tortured subgroup analysis.

‍

With that kind of approach, one hears a myriad of objections from research teams. We try to tackle some of them below.

“But Alethios team… studies are expensive!”

You’re right. That’s why we built Alethios the way we did.

There’s no difference in platform pricing between observational studies, pilots, and full RCTs—only in the cost of adding participants or tests. That means you can start with what’s right, then scale up when you're ready, without paying a penalty for climbing one rung at a time.

“Observational studies aren’t real evidence.”

Also not true. When paired with structured protocols, validated instruments, wearables, and even at-home biomarker collection, observational studies can produce rich, repeatable insights. Especially when pre-registered and transparently reported.

That 4-week sleep improvement pilot? It might be the clue that leads to a focused controlled study design. That subgroup analysis where you only look at menopausal women? It might inform your next label claim. If designed well, these aren’t fluff studies—they’re essential steps.

Research is a Ladder Across Health

This isn’t just philosophy. It’s built into our software, our onboarding flows, our AI planning tools, and our customer success approach. We help researchers start at the right rung—without coercion or upcharge—and climb as far as their goals and data allow.

• In pharma, that ladder might look like real-world data and early trials exploring formulation or delivery before a pivotal Phase III.
  
  
• In consumer health, it might mean starting with an ingredient-backed study, adding a testimonial arm, and ending with a blinded, randomized trial.
  
  
• In longevity, women’s health, mental health, and emerging fields, it’s the only way to validate fast enough to keep up with the science, and to ensure we’re building excellent foundational knowledge in long understudied fields.
  
  

And we think it’s about time the ladder became easier to climb.

The best research isn’t always the biggest—it’s the most thoughtful. You don’t build a bridge by leaping to the other side. You lay the foundation, test the beams, and then walk across with confidence. When you’re ready for that double-blind, placebo-controlled RCT, there’s no faster or more affordable way than on the Alethios platform. That’s what Alethios enables: a credible, structured path to strong evidence, without treating research like a winner-takes-all gamble.

We’re here to make the ladder affordable, flexible, and always climbable. One step at a time.

‍