Over the years we have witnessed the appearance of various diseases and the development of various medicines to treat them. Thanks to the dedication and untiring efforts of our medical researchers who are always looking for novel or better methods of treating illnesses or diseases. If ever they are able to discover something that can be beneficial, the consumers cannot use it immediately because it still needs years of rigid testing.
It is the research studies that connect medical research to a certain drug to become available to doctors as well as patients who can buy the new medications in pharmacies such as the retail pharmacy in Gastonia, North Carolina. Research studies are otherwise known as clinical trials, drug studies, or drug trials. Read on to know the various phases of conducting pharmaceutical research studies.
- Phase I studies
Phase I studies are conducted on those volunteers who are healthy and who consent to try the study drug in order to aid the physicians to know how safe the medicine is and whether it has side effects. Studies are conducted as well to know how our body absorbs, metabolizes, and excretes the drug. The number of individuals who take part in Phase I studies is small, about 20 – 100 subjects. This is among the first steps in the development of new medicines like those sold at the pharmacy in North Carolina.
- Phase II studies
Phase II studies evaluate the new medicine’s effect on patients with the illness to be treated. The primary purpose is to identify the new medicine’s safety and effectiveness. The number of patients who join this phase is often several hundred. Phase II studies are often double-blind clinical trials, random and controlled. The effect of active medicine in controlled studies is compared with that of a placebo, an inactive or “sugar” pill. In double-blind clinical trials, both the study subject and the investigator are unaware of who is taking the active drug and who is taking the placebo medicine. Of the studied medicine, one-third of them complete Phases I and II. This is another vital stage of the development of the medicines we take like those we buy in our neighborhood pharmacy.
- Phase III studies
In Phase III studies, patients with the disease to be treated with the new medicine are used as well. The purpose of doing these studies is to have a more comprehensive understanding of the study of medicine’s effectiveness, benefits, as well as side effects. These kinds of studies utilize a large number of test subjects, from several hundred up to several thousand.
About 70 to 90% of the new medicines that reach Phase III pass this phase successfully. The company will then submit the information and ask for approval from the FDA to market the new medicine if the results manifest good effects as well as a safety profile. Once given FDA approval, the new medicine will be available to the public like those medicines included in the prescription delivery service.
At You 1st Pharmacy, we provide top-quality medications and medical supplies to help you keep your health. Feel free to contact us about our pharmaceutical services in Gastonia, North Carolina.
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