Healthcare Magazine February 2015 | Page 8

HOSPITALS
DID YOU KNOW that it can take up to 15 years to develop one new medicine from the earliest stages of discovery to the time it is available for treating patients ? And out of the multiple new medicines being created only 10 percent reach the clinical trials phase , with only one of five ever being approved for human use ?
It ’ s a lengthy and challenging process , but a deeper understanding of the R & D ( research and development ) process can explain why so many compounds don ’ t make it .
Success requires immense resources , sophisticated technology and complex project management . It also takes persistence and , sometimes , even luck . Ultimately , though , the process of drug discovery brings more than just a new pill to the pharmacy shelves – it brings hope and relief to millions of patients around the world .
Understanding the Disease Before any potential new medicine can be discovered , scientists work to understand the disease to be treated , as well as the underlying cause of the condition .
Numerous studies are conducted to understand how genes are altered , how that affects the proteins they encode , and how those proteins then interact with each other in living cells . They way said affected cells change the specific tissue they are in are then analyzed , finally giving scientists an understanding of how the disease affects the entire patient .
Researchers from government , academia and industry all contribute to these studies .
Once enough information is gathered , scientists select a “ target ” for a potential new medicine . A target could be a single gene or protein that is involved in a particular disease . After choosing a potential target , scientists must then show that it is actually involved in the disease and can be acted upon by a drug .
Magnetic resonance imaging , X-ray
8 February 2015