New Medicines

Question 1

Where can new drugs come from?

Answer 1

plant extracts, or be synthesized in a lab

Question 2

How would computer modelling help in terms of designing new drugs?

Answer 2

The computer programme will create a list of compounds that could potentially target a condition

Question 3

What can preclinical lab testing be done on?

Answer 3

live cells, bacteria, tissue cultures

Question 4

Compounds that pass preclinical testing, what testing do they undergo next?

Answer 4

Animal testing

Question 5

After animal testing, which trials come next?

Answer 5

clinical trials

Question 6

Explain how clinical trials work.

Answer 6

• First tested on healthy human volunteers to look for side effects
  
  • Next tested on a small sample of volunteers with the condition to see its effectiveness
  • Finally it is tested on a large sample of patients with the condition to see how good it is and if it is safe
  • If the drug is positive for all of them it is finally approved for use
    Once a drug has been approved it is still monitored to see if any side effects or issues appear

Question 7

What is the placebo effect?

Answer 7

when sometimes people feel better simply because they expect to feel better as a result of taking a medicine