Drug testing

• What are new drugs trialled and tested and checked for before patients take them or doctors prescribe them

  • safety
  • effectiveness
  • dosage
• Why are new drugs tested for safety?

  because some drugs are toxic and have side effects that might be harmful to people.
• Why are new drugs tested for effectiveness?


  It checks how well the drug cures disease or improves symptoms
• Why are new drugs tested for dosage?


  dosage has to be closely controlled as too high a concentration might be toxic
• What is the first stage of testing drugs?


  The drugs are tested using computer models and human cells grown in the laboratory.
• What is the importance of the first stage of testing drugs?


  allows efficacy and possible side effect to be tested.
• Why do many substances fail the first test of preclinical drug trial?


  because they damage cells or do not seem to work
• What happens during the second stage of drug trials?


  Drugs that pass the first stage are tested on animals in the second part of a preclinical drug trial. In the UK, new medicines have to undergo these tests.
• What do they monitor during the second drug test?


  A typical test involves giving a known amount of the substance to the animals, then monitoring them carefully for any side-effects.
• What is the third stage of drug testing?

  Drugs that have passed animal tests are used in human clinical trials. They are tested on healthy volunteers to check that they are safe.
• What happens after the drugs have been tested on healthy volunteers?


  The substances are then tested on people with the illness to ensure that they are safe and that they work.
• How much do they use to test the drug?


   Low doses of the drug are used initially, and if this is safe the dosage increases until the optimum dosage is identified.