The development and testing of new drugs

• Vaccinations allow protection against specific diseases, but the level of protection depends on the amount of people vaccinated
• Part of Biology (Single Science) Infection and response
• Revise Audio Test Pages Vaccinations
• Herd immunity
• Antibiotics and painkillers
• Antibiotic resistance
• Bacterial growth in cultures
• Bacterial calculations
• The effect of antibiotics and antiseptics
• The discovery of new drugs
• The development and testing of new drugs
• New drugs
• A substance that can change chemical reactions in the body
• Need to be tested and trialled before doctors prescribe them and patients take them
• 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.
• It is illegal to test cosmetics and tobacco products on animals.
• A typical test involves giving a known amount of the substance to the animals, then monitoring them carefully for any side-effects
• Drugs that have passed animal tests are used in human clinical trials.
• Low doses of the drug are used initially, and if this is safe the dosage increases until the optimum dosage is identified