UC Dermatology Clinical Research Information for Participants
Dermatology Clinical Research Center Information for Clinical Trials Participants
Before a drug can be tested in humans, it must be studied extensively in the laboratory. Typically this laboratory testing takes place over years. If the drug is found to show sufficient promise in laboratory studies, the pharmaceutical company developing the drug requests permission to further study the drug in humans. This is done by providing the experimental data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (called an Investigational New Drug application [IND]). When the FDA grants a pharmaceutical company an IND, further testing of the drug can begin in clinical trials.
Clinical trials depend on volunteers who agree to be part of carefully controlled tests that measure the effects of medications. By conducting clinical trials, we hope to identify treatments that will work better in some way than current treatments, perhaps by being more effective than current dermatologics, or by working longer, or by having fewer side effects. By volunteering, study participants help to advance medical knowledge, and also to potentially help others with similar problems.
Before a drug can be tested in humans, it must be studied extensively in the laboratory. Typically this laboratory testing takes place over years. If the drug is found to show sufficient promise in laboratory studies, the pharmaceutical company developing the drug requests permission to further study the drug in humans. This is done by providing the experimental data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (called an Investigational New Drug application [IND]). When the FDA grants a pharmaceutical company an IND, further testing of the drug can begin in clinical trials.
Clinical trials depend on volunteers who agree to be part of carefully controlled tests that measure the effects of medications. By conducting clinical trials, we hope to identify treatments that will work better in some way than current treatments, perhaps by being more effective than current dermatologics, or by working longer, or by having fewer side effects. By volunteering, study participants help to advance medical knowledge, and also to potentially help others with similar problems.
