developing drugs

• there are 3 main stages in drug testing
• 1 - in preclinical testing, drugs are tested on human cells and tissues in the lab
• 1 -

  you can't use human cells and tissues to test drugs that affect whole or multiple body systems e.g. testing a drug for blood pressure must be done on a whole animal because it has an intact circulatory system
• 2 - the next step in preclinical testing is to test the drug on live animals.

  • this is to test efficacy (whether the drug works and produces the effect you're looking for)
  • to find out about its toxicity (how harmful it is)
  • to find the best dosage (the concentration that should be given and how often it should be given)