Developing drugs

• efficacy - how well the drug works against a disease
• toxicity - side effects caused by the drug
• in pre-clinical testing, drugs are tested on human cells and tissues in the lab to check the toxicity of the drug
• drug testing

  • in pre-clinical testing, drugs are tested on human cells and tissues in the lab to check the toxicity of the drug
  • pre-clinical testing - test the drug on live animals this is to test for efficacy, toxicity and figure out a dosage
  • then tested on human volunteers in a clinical trial - first it is tested on healthy volunteers to ensure it doesn't have any harmful side effects on a healthy body - very low drug dosage is given.
  • patients are put into two groups one with real drug and one with a placebo - these tests are often double-blind trials
• double blind trial


  neither the doctor nor the patient know whether they receive the actual drug or the placebo
• why do we have double-blind trials

  • doctors subconsciously being influenced by the knowledge
• stage one of drug testing

  in pre-clinical testing, drugs are tested on human cells and tissues in the lab to check the toxicity of the drug
• stage two of drug testing

  pre-clinical testing - test the drug on live animals this is to test for efficacy, toxicity and figure out a dosage
• stage three of drug testing

  then tested on human volunteers in a clinical trial - first it is tested on healthy volunteers to ensure it doesn't have any harmful side effects on a healthy body - very low drug dosage is given.
• stage four of drug testing

  patients are put into two groups one with real drug and one with a placebo - these tests are often double-blind trials