Drug Development

Drug Development

Justify the stages in drug testing

*Recall the stages in drug testing

*Describe potential new sources of medicines

*Relate the stages in drug testing to the 4 properties of a successful medicine

Key questions to answer:

• 1) Does it work? ** effective**

  2) Is it safe? **side effects/toxic?**

  3) How much do I need? ** Dosage**

  4) How do I store it? ** Chemically stable**

Developing Drugs

• Chemical analysis of drug

• Pre clinical trials: Test on cells & animals

• Clinical trials: Test on a small number of healthy volunteers (double blind trials)

• Test on a small number of volunteers with the illness (double blind trials)

• Test on a large number of volunteers with the illness (double blind trials)

• Peer review findings

• Continue to monitor when drug is liscenced

Multiple Choice

Why are drugs tested on animals?

• It is cheap and easy to do

• It checks for side effects

• To see if they are suitable as cosmetics

Multiple Choice

In which sort of trial do the researchers know which group the volunteers are in, but the volunteers do not?

• Blind trial

• Double Blind Trial

• Open Trial

Multiple Choice

Why do scientists grow bacteria in the laboratory?

• To allow them to check the effectiveness of antibiotics or antibacterial substances at killing them

• To be able to calculate the number of bacteria in a population.

• To allow infectious diseases to be cultured.

Multiple Choice

How are drugs checked for safety?

• Drugs are tested for efficacy, toxicity and dosage

• By giving them to humans first

• By giving people a placebo

Multiple Choice

What are the different stages of drugs trials?

• Testing it on humans to see if the side effects are harmful

• On human volunteers first and then on animals

• Preclinical trials using cells, tissues and animals. Then clinical trials using healthy human volunteers and patients.

Multiple Choice

Which drug was originally isolated from willow bark?

• Paracetamol

• Aspirin

• Digitalis

Multiple Choice

What is a placebo?

• An inactive substance used as a control in clinical trials

• A concentrated form of a drug used in clinical trials

• A type of injection using very fine needles

Multiple Choice

How do antibiotics work?

• They can stop bacteria from growing or reproducing

• They can stop viruses from growing or reproducing

• They can stop toxins poisoning the tissues of the host

Multiple Choice

How do vaccines work?

• A weakened/inactive version of a virus is injected to stimulate antibody production

• They can stop viruses from growing or reproducing by producing antitoxins

• A weakened/inactive version of a virus is injected to stimulate antigen production

Multiple Choice

Which of following describes how antibodies are released after a person has been vaccinated?

• Quickly and in large amounts

• Slowly but in large amounts

• The same as before

• Quickly but a different antibody is made