Discovery and Development of Drugs

• The heart drug digitalis originates from foxgloves
• The painkiller aspirin comes from willow
• Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming from the Penicillium mould
• Preclinical testing:

  • testing on human cells and tissues in the lab
  • you can't use human cells and tissues to test drugs that affect the whole or multiple body systems
• Preclinical testing:

  • testing the drug on live animals
  • testing for efficacy
  • finding out toxicity
  • finding best dosage
• The law in Britain states that preclinical testing must be done on two different live mammals