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When testing new treatments, drugmakers must show that their formulation bears out better results than a placebo in clinical trials. In fact, the new drug must outperform the placebo by a statistically significant margin using a measurement called “p-value.”

In this short video, STAT national biotech reporter Damian Garde explains what p-value is, how it is used, and why it is still considered the gold standard for statistical significance, despite its shortcomings.

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