Biology GCSE
Clinical trials
What Clinical trials means in Biology GCSE, as defined for AQA.
Definitions of Clinical trials
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Reference: AQA
Testing proceeds in phases: healthy volunteers check safety and side effects, patients test effectiveness and optimum dose, and large-scale trials compare the new drug with existing treatments.
Tests of a new drug in humans that begin with very low doses to reduce the risk of harm because the effects in humans are not yet fully known.
Tests of a new drug in humans, using healthy volunteers and patients, carried out after laboratory and animal testing.
Testing involving healthy volunteers and patients, often comparing the drug with a placebo or existing treatment.
Topics that use Clinical trials
- Discovery and development of drugs (AQA GCSE)
Related terms
- Dose
- Drug discovery and development
- Efficacy
- Evidence before human trials
- Natural sources of medicines
- Optimum dose
- Patients
- Preclinical testing
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