What is clinical research and how is it important in the development of any drug?

What is clinical research and how is it important in the development of any drug?

So, what is Clinical research?

Clinical research is a branch of healthcare system that determines the safety, effectiveness and efficacy of medicine, diagnostic products and course of action of a treatment for human use which is accomplished via clinical trials.

Clinical trials are kind of research projects that help to develop new drugs and better ways to detect, diagnose, treat and prevent diseases. Clinical trials are properly framed with a precise study protocol under certain conditions like:

• Having a goal of increasing medical knowledge.
• Carrying out the study by proficient personals.
• Collecting consent of all the people involved.
• Obtaining all the necessary regulatory approvals along with legal and ethical steps.
• Adopting measures to protect those enrolled themselves for the study.

Some clinical research involves outpatients (patients do not stay overnight at the hospital) while some involves inpatients (patients stay overnight at the hospital) including small or large group of participants according to the need of the trial.

Clinical trials : the most important part in new drug development

Clinical trial is the most crucial part of the research that develops new drugs or treatments. Behind every medication and interventions that are useful in improving health conditions, there are clinical trials. Every medicine or medical devices are fully screened through close monitoring and highly regulated clinical trials to ensure the safety and effectiveness. And along with the time clinical trials develops the techniques or medications for the betterment of humans so that the humans could stay healthy and lead a happy life.

New Drugs are first created or discovered, purified, described and tested in labs before reaching human clinical trials. But only few out of all the substances which are tested in their early phases are able to be tested in humans. Drug development brings new pharmaceutical drugs to the market once a compound has been identified through drug discovery. The ultimate aim of drug development is to bring new compounds with proven therapeutic effect in the market.

Clinical trials enables the researchers to learn what does work or what doesn’t on humans that they can’t learn in laboratories or animals. Clinical trials also let the researchers know about unknown potentials of a particular drug which may be beneficial or may possess a number of side effects.  Even Clinical trials are very helpful for doctors to decide whether the side effects of a new drug or treatment are acceptable or not when compared against their potential advantages.

Clinical trials make new medications and drug development advantageous and much more trustworthy. These are the key to success in eradication of different types of diseases. In the past clinical trials have saved millions of lives and will continue to do the same in future.