Development of a New Drug

Drug development is a very complex job, which is strictly regulated. Before a new medicine hits the pharmacy shelves, scientists and physicians spend ten to twelve years comprehensively investigating the drug candidate, first in the lab and then in healthy volunteers and finally in thousands of patients who volunteer to participate in clinical studies. All the data – roughly 500,000 pages – are then submitted to the health authorities. Only when the experts at the regulatory authorities have carefully reviewed all the information and approved the drug, is it available for you, the patient.