by Paula Rapp

Created on: July 25, 2008   Last Updated: July 26, 2008

Devising Drugs:

As early as 2735 B.C, medicinal qualities of plants and herbs have been both examined and utilized for their healing properties. Throughout history man has searched for the perfect remedy to cure our ails, pains, diseases and general complaints. So too as scientific discovery has advanced and the continued detection of disease are recognized, medical therapies have skyrocketed. Clinical researches trials have become mainstream and today virtually millions of people worldwide are participating or have participated in a drug study.

The development of viable and effective drugs is often a long and tenuous journey.

Drugs are first "discovered" by combining separate elements and compounds to create a substance designed to cure or aid a disease/condition that needs to be treated. Molecular elements are manipulated and isolated in effort to essentially trick the body into producing a desired effect. This process may occur by design or more commonly, by accident. Once a drug appears to having some promising qualities and suspected therapeutic properties, screening research in the laboratory is initiated.

In Vivo
Preliminary screening may be conducted in vivo ("in life") in lab tested animals or in vitro ("in glass") as cell cultures. Typically hundreds or thousands of compounds will be tested in this manner in order to successfully identify one product that passes the screening test. Of those that do make it effectively to this point, even fewer will actually ever go on to make it to the consumer marketplace.

Once a compound has proven its value in the laboratory setting, it must further pass numerous other barriers before being allowed investigation in the human population. Rigorous studies must be conducted to evaluate the safety of the drug, effective dose ranges, which organs are affected by the drug, how the drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized and excreted from the body. Furthermore, the drug must be examined to determine if it has carcinogenic or teratogenic properties. It is not until all these questions have been answered sufficiently that the drug can be deemed appropriate to enter clinical development in humans.

Pharmaceutical Commitment
To reach this point of development, often pharmaceuticals have spent millions. To further advance the endeavor, pharmaceutical companies have to evaluate if the drug will be profitable and can be successfully marketed for a targeted condition. Often the total cost of bringing a drug from inception to marketplace

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