Information On Clinical Trials Brandon FL Residents Should Know

By Jason Stewart


Before a drug is approved for human use, it has to undergo several stages of development. This usually takes years and tremendous amounts of resources. A drug must pass all the safety measures and indeed, it must be effective. This process is what is commonly termed a clinical trial and comprises several steps. If they have plans of carrying out clinical trials Brandon fl researchers must understand all the stages involved beforehand.

Any trial is usually preceded by a feasibility study. The drug under development has to undergo several stages of laboratory tests before it can be used in human subjects. This is what is known as preclinical research. The idea here is to determine the effect of the molecule in question on human cells or animal models.

The next step is done in several phases, zero to four. Phase zero marks the start of testing in humans. A small number of people are recruited to take place in the study and are only given a small dose of the drug being tested. This helps avoid serious side effects which may not be known yet.

A successful phase zero allows for the commencement of phase 1. If unwanted effects are noted, however, more research at the preclinical stage is warranted. Phase 1 is typically carried out over several months. The main objective is to determine the effects of the drug (or any other intervention) on the test subjects. The number of people enrolled here ranges from 20 and 80.

Phase 1 provides the researcher with other important information other than the side effects associated with the drug. Part of this will include the optimum dose that can be used. This is determined by a gradual increase of the dose to the maximum level that can be tolerated. It is also possible to know the most effective route of administration.

About three quarters of phase one trials proceed to phase 2.The number of subjects is in the hundreds at this point. The usually have the disease or medical condition for which the drug is being developed. Participants will usually be followed up over several months to a few years. Data from this phase are used to determine how the next phase is to be carried out.

The third phase is made up of a few thousand participants. They also have a medical condition targeted by the drug. The main role of this stage is to compare and contrast the effects of the new drug with those of pre-existing molecules used for the same condition. Participants receive either the existing drug or the new one in random fashion. The concept of double blinding is also employed to eliminate bias by the researchers and participants.

The final phase, four, is conducted after approval of the drug. Just a quarter of phase 3 trials get to this point, on average. The role of this stage is to conduct surveillance with the aim of documenting long term and rare side effects. Many years are required for the completion of this stage.




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