Clinical Trials for Beginners: Recipe for a new drug

June 26, 2012, 10:00 am by Scientific American: Health

Sometimes it seems like new drugs suddenly appear like magic. Have you ever wondered if there was something special going on behind the scenes? Earlier in Clinical Trials for Beginners, we looked briefly at why drug studies came into being, then at how a drug is developed , from test tube to your tissues. Let’s take a look behind the hype and the hoopla, at the hard work and the drudgery that create the magic.Whether a drug is being developed by a pharmaceutical company, a small government grant, or an individual physician or institution, all studies have traditionally followed a basic “recipe” of a protocol. This is akin to Atul Gawande s checklist , to make sure that all essential elements are present and that nothing is overlooked. [More]

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