Adaptive design, with advantages such as dynamically adjusting trial plans, reducing resource waste, and improving trial efficiency, has broken through the competitive situation of new drug development and gradually met the needs of clinical research. In recent years, the use of adaptive design in platform trials as an innovative research model has added impetus to new drug development. This article outlines the research progress, contents and characteristics, common design types, statistical analysis, and case interpretation of adaptive design, and introduces the concept, types, and applications of adaptive platform trials, with the hope of providing scientific reference for further exploration of clinical trials and new drug development.