Why is drug research necessary?

When taking any form of medication have you ever wondered how it is developed and tested? This information is needed to help obtain the correct dosage, the safety of the drugs, and how long a drug may remain in the body. New treatments are continually being developed for the treatment of disease. However, it is a complex process with many stages of development before a new medicine can be used to treat patients.

A promising new drug must be extensively investigated before it is thought to be safe to be given to humans. It is then tested in healthy volunteers so that certain properties of the drug can be determined. During any drug trial volunteers safety and good clinical practice are our primary concern. Volunteers are seen by one of our medical doctors to check they are suitable for the trial and the research trial will have full approval from an Independent Research Ethics committee. Healthy volunteers and patients play an essential part in the development of new drugs, treatments, assessing products and helping to test new and existing medicines to combat disease.