Introduction to Clinical Research
Before a pharmaceutical company can initiate testing in humans, it must conduct extensive preclinical or laboratory research. This research typically involves years of experiments in animal and human cells. The compounds are also extensively tested in animals.
If this stage of testing is successful, a pharmaceutical company provides this data to Health Canada, requesting approval to begin testing the drug in humans. This is called an Investigational New Drug application (IND).
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Why would someone participate in a medical research study?
As a volunteer in a medical research study, a patient helps in the possible development of medical therapies that may offer better treatments and even cures for life-threatening and chronic diseases. People volunteer to participate in a medical research study for a number of reasons, including the advancement of science, hope for treatment that doesn’t exist or improved medical care and to be involved in research that could help others.