Drug Development

• • Preclinical testing - testing the drug on human cells and tissues in the lab (Stage 1)
• • Testing the drug on live animals to test its efficacy, toxicity and the dosage (Stage 2)
• Efficacy - whether the drug works or not
• Toxicity - How harmful it is
• Dosage - how much needs to be taken
• Tested on healthy human volunteers in clinical trials (Stage 3)
• Tested on unhealthy humans in a double blind trial (Stage 4)
• Double blind trial - neither the patients or scientists know who has the placebo, to measure side effects and to decrease bias
• The drug then goes for a peer review to prevent bias (Stage 5)
• Drug goes in for approval (Stage 6)