The Long History of Clinical Trials

On account of the recent pandemic, the public is increasingly more aware of Pharma and the drug development process. And it is unsurprising when you consider that clinical trials were front and center of global news headlines for months.

For most of 2020, it felt like the whole world was on hold - waiting for an effective vaccine candidate to obtain clinical approval. Topics that were usually reserved for scientific and medical spaces became a global matter; opening up dialogue between the public and pharmacologists.

At this time, I remember friends who had never shown any interest in my job asking how drugs were developed; which made me realize how complex but necessary these conversations were. Because while very few people understand how medicines are tested, most of us will be exposed to a drug or vaccine in our lifetime.

Yet, despite my knowledge of modern-day clinical trials, I knew little about their history until my colleague handed me this blog post. The origin of clinical trials isn't something I remember being taught at university in great depth, but it is so important to our understanding of the systems and processes that lay the foundations of these studies. If you have any interest in understanding how drugs are tested and developed, I highly recommend giving her an article a read, which you can access here on the REPROCELL website.