There are new medicines that come out all the time. But how did they get to the point of public release? Creating a new medicine is a rigorous, lengthy process. It can take some medications as long as 15 years to start as a promising idea and develop into something that receives approval from regulators.
So, what does the process of researching new medicines look like? What can make some procedures shorter and others longer? Here is what that process can look like.
Identification
The first step is to identify a “target,” a pathway or molecule in the body that contributes to the development of symptoms or a disease. In determining that “target,” there is a greater focus on where medical improvements need to be made.
The step after this is to identify the molecules that could potentially enhance the target’s activity. This makes the target more easily identifiable to compounds that can stop or cure it.
Discovery
From there, it is about investigating and developing compounds that may be able to alter the disease process. With the “target” identified, it means being able to narrow things down as far as the number of compounds is concerned. This means finding the potential to “hit” the target while also ensuring that the body can absorb it.
It also looks for compounds that are tolerated by most and have the least side effects. There is also the matter of producing a stable product that is both convenient and easy to use.
Pre-Clinical Testing
When this stage has been reached, it is about finding out how the compounds interact with the body. What side effects are there? What kind of impact does it have on the illness in question? This is where developers find out how things work.
In the most successful cases, pre-clinical testing is short. There is a slew of side effects that can persist and complicate the endeavor in others. It takes time to iron out those kinks before a product can be released.