Developing drugs

• traditionally drugs came from plants and microoorganisms, however nowadays they are synthesised by chemists
• Digitalis treats heart failure
• Digitalis is from foxgloves which is a type of plant
• Aspirin is a painkiller
• Aspirin came from willow trees
• Penicillin is an antibiotic
• Penicillin came from a fungi known as penicillium.
• Penicillin was discovered by alexander fleming
• Efficacy is how well a drug produces the desired effect.
• Toxicity is how harmful the drug is.
• Dosage is how much of the drug is required to give the desired effect.
• stages of drug development:

  • Tested on human cells or tissues
  • tested on live animals
  • tested on healthy volunteers to find max dosage and side effects
  • tested on patients to find optimum dosage
• A placebo is a substance that looks like the drug but has no effect on the body
• A double-blind drug tests is when the patients nor the doctors know who has been given the real drug and who has been given the placebo.
• Advantages of double-blind testing:

  • helps avoid bias
  • if patients know they have the drug they are more likely to report side effects
  • results are more likely to be valid