Facts On Clinical Trials Brandon Fl Researchers Should Know

By Jason Stewart


Clinical trials are an important component in the development of new drugs and medical interventions. They provide a mechanism through which the effectiveness and safety profile of new forms of therapy are tested before being adopted as routine practice. There are a number of facts on clinical trials Brandon Fl aspiring researchers need to know.

This process of testing is usually preceded by what is termed preclinical research. At this stage the new molecules or methods of intervention are tested on animal models, human cells or tissues in a laboratory. This step determines whether the trial will proceed or will be abandoned. For instance, if a new drug is found to be toxic to animal models, there is a very high likelihood that it will be harmful to human tissues as well hence, there is no need to proceed.

The next stage comprises a number of phases the first of which is phase zero. Here, just a small group of subjects are included in the study. The number is often less than fifteen. At the same time, only a small dose of the drug under development is administered. This is mainly because the harmful effects, if any, may not be fully understood at this point.

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 75 per cent of phase 1 studies usually proceed to the next step. At phase 2, the study participants are a few hundreds. The precondition for one to be considered as a participant is that they should have the medical condition behind controlled by the drug. There are several months of follow up by the researcher to see how effective the drug is in the larger. Data collected are used to make decisions on subsequent stages of study.

By the time the trial gets to phase 3, the number of participants usually has expanded to several thousands. This group also comprises persons that are suffering from the disease. The main aim of this phase is to look at the strengths and weaknesses of a new drug as compared to those that have been in use in the treatment of a particular illness. The new drug should be safer and preferably more effective to get approval .

Phase 4 is the final stage and comes after approval. It involves the tracking of rare and long term effects of the drug that may not have been seen earlier. This usually takes many years and is conducted in different geographical locations. The number of third phase trials that get to this point is about 25 per cent.




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