A taste of being normal.
That is all that some people are looking for.
Just a taste.
Of what it feels like to be normal.
Millions of Americans are looking for the opportunity to feel better, be more mobile, be more alert and active, but they depend on new medications, new treatments, and new options. All things that rely on the use of a clinical study to test and confirm new discoveries.
A Clinical Study Can Help Find Answers to Difficult Health Situations
In today’s fast changing world of technology it should come as no surprise that many of the cures and treatments that we will see in our lifetime have not even been developed yet. What may be a surprise, however, is that the process for new medicines and treatments only come about through a long series of medical research studies and clinical trials. Consider, for instance, this brief summary of the four basic stages of clinical study that all new drugs and treatments must go through before they even have a chance of being put into use:
- Researchers test an experimental treatment or drug on a small group of people in Phase I trials. This means that 20 to 80 people are used for the first phase of trials with the purpose of evaluating safety and identifing side effects.
- Researchers test an experimental treatment or drug or on a larger group of people in Phase II trials. This means that 100 to 300 people are used for the second phase of of trials with the purpose to further evaluate its safety and to determine its effectiveness.
- Researchers test an experimental treatment or drug on an even larger group of people in Phase III trials. this means that experimental drug or treatment is administered to 1,000 to 3,000 people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it with equivalent or standard treatments, and collect information that will allow the experimental treatment or drug or to be used safely.
- The clinical trial team submits a New Drug Application (NDA) for approval to go on the market after completing Phase IV. it is interesting to note that of the 5,000 to 10,000 drugs that annually enter this research and development stage, only 250 make it to pre-clinical trial testing; only five make it to clinical trial testing; and only one makes it to the FDA approval stage.
- Clinical drug development is the only way that any new product has a way to enter the pharmaceutical market. Phase 1 clinical trials are the only way that a new treatment or drug can enter the market.