Drug research and development involves extensive testing to determine efficacy, safety, side effects, and potential complications. Scientists conduct initial research in laboratories before testing on human subjects. Clinical trials can take months or years, and government organizations make the final decision on mass production. Monitoring continues after commercialization to ensure safety.
Drug research and development refers to the research and development of new pharmaceutical products in scientific laboratories and clinical settings. To be mass marketed, a drug must be extensively studied and tested to determine its efficacy, safety, side effects, and potential complications. Many professionals are involved in drug research and development, including chemists and biologists, research pharmacologists, psychologists, physicians, government officials, and retail pharmacists.
The early stages of drug research and development occur in laboratory settings, where scientists conduct initial research on different chemicals that may prove useful in the fight against bacterial infections, inflammations, viruses or cancers. Chemists, microbiologists and pharmacologists experiment by combining different types of chemicals and testing their effectiveness on samples of tissue, blood and laboratory fluids that contain tumors or disease. They use strict guidelines and employ scientific methodology to ensure that the results are accurate and reliable. Scientists try to predict and minimize the potentially negative side effects of new drugs by adjusting the concentrations of different chemical components.
Once a drug has proven itself in a laboratory setting, it is usually produced in sufficient quantity to be tested on a sample of human subjects. Research psychologists and pharmacologists have started extensive clinical trials, in which they give the drug to some participants and the placebo to others. Most studies emphasize the importance of double-blind studies, where neither the researchers nor the participants know who is receiving until the testing period is complete. Double-blind research methods are essential to ensure unbiased and scientifically accurate analyzes of drug efficacy.
In most cases, the clinical trial phase of drug research and development takes months or even years to complete. The drugs must be administered to several target groups and the results must be critically examined to obtain a detailed understanding of the risks and benefits involved. Most countries have government organizations that research clinical trial results and make the final decision on whether or not to approve a drug for mass production and commercialization to the public.
Drug research and development continues even after a drug becomes commercially available. Doctors and pharmacists dispensing a new drug often ask patients to check in and explain their results and side effects. Some drugs have been found to be dangerous for people with certain medical conditions that weren’t considered in previous clinical trials. When doctors or pharmacists receive negative reports, they relay information to health officials who can order investigations, recall the drug from the market, and insist that more research and development be conducted on the product.
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