The Drug Development Process
Step 1: Discovery and Development
Discovery
Typically, researchers discover new drugs through:
New insights into a disease process that allow researchers to design a product to stop or reverse the
effects of the disease.
Many tests of molecular compounds to find possible beneficial effects against any of a large number of
diseases.
Existing treatments that have unanticipated effects.
New technologies, such as those that provide new ways to target medical products to specific sites within
the body or to manipulate genetic material.
At this stage in the process, thousands of compounds may be
potential candidates for development as a medical treatment. After early testing, however, only a small number
of compounds look promising and call for further study.
Development
Once researchers identify a promising compound for development, they conduct experiments to gather
information on:
How it is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted.
Its potential benefits and mechanisms of action.
The best dosage.
The best way to give the drug (such as by mouth or injection).
Side effects or adverse events that can often be referred to as toxicity.
How it affects different groups of people (such as by gender, race, or ethnicity) differently.
How it interacts with other drugs and treatments.
Its effectiveness as compared with similar drugs.
Step 2: Preclinical Research
Before testing a drug in people, researchers must find out whether it has the potential to cause serious harm, also called toxicity.
The two types of preclinical research are:
In Vitro
In Vivo
FDA requires researchers to use good laboratory practices (GLP), defined in medical product development regulations, for
preclinical laboratory studies. The GLP regulations are found in 21 CFR Part 58.1: Good Laboratory Practice for Nonclinical
Laboratory Studies. These regulations set the minimum basic requirements for:
study conduct
personnel
facilities
equipment
written protocols
operating procedures
study reports
and a system of quality assurance oversight for each study to help assure the safety of FDA-regulated product
Usually, preclinical studies are not very large. However, these studies must provide detailed information on dosing and toxicity
levels. After preclinical testing, researchers review their findings and decide whether the drug should be tested in people.
Step 3: Clinical Research
What are the Clinical Trial Phases?
Watch this video to learn about the three phases of clinical trials.
While preclinical research answers basic questions about a drugs safety, it is not a substitute for studies of ways the drug will
interact with the human body. Clinical research refers to studies, or trials, that are done in people. As the developers design the
clinical study, they will consider what they want to accomplish for each of the different Clinical Research Phases and begin the
Investigational New Drug Process (IND), a process they must go through before clinical research begins.
On this page you will find information on:
Designing Clinical Trials
Clinical Research Phase Studies
The Investigational New Drug Process
Asking for FDA Assistance
FDA IND Review Team
Approval
Designing Clinical Trials
Researchers design clinical trials to answer specific research questions related to a medical product. These trials follow a
specific study plan, called a protocol, that is developed by the researcher or manufacturer. Before a clinical trial begins, researchers
review prior information about the drug to develop research questions and objectives. Then, they decide:
Who qualifies to participate (selection criteria)
How many people will be part of the study
How long the study will last
Whether there will be a control group and other ways to limit research bias
How the drug will be given to patients and at what dosage
What assessments will be conducted, when, and what data will be collected
How the data will be reviewed and analyzed
Clinical trials follow a typical series from early, small-scale, Phase 1 studies to late-stage, large scale, Phase 3 studies.
Clinical Research Phase Studies
Phase 1
Study Participants: 20 to 100 healthy volunteers or people with the disease/condition.
Length of Study: Several months
Purpose: Safety and dosage
Approximately 70% of drugs move to the next phase
Phase 2
Study Participants: Up to several hundred people with the disease/condition.
Length of Study: Several months to 2 years
Purpose: Efficacy and side effects
Approximately 33% of drugs move to the next phase
Phase 3
Study Participants: 300 to 3,000 volunteers who have the disease or condition
Length of Study: 1 to 4 years
Purpose: Efficacy and monitoring of adverse reactions
Approximately 25-30% of drugs move to the next phase
Phase 4
Study Participants: Several thousand volunteers who have the disease/condition
Purpose: Safety and efficacy
Learn more about Clinical Trials.
The Investigational New Drug Process
Drug developers, or sponsors, must submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to FDA before beginning clinical research.
In the IND application, developers must include:
Animal study data and toxicity (side effects that cause great harm) data
Manufacturing information
Clinical protocols (study plans) for studies to be conducted
Data from any prior human research
Information about the investigator
Asking for FDA Assistance
Drug developers are free to ask for help from FDA at any point in the drug development process, including:
Pre-IND application, to review FDA guidance documents and get answers to questions that may help enhance their research
After Phase 2, to obtain guidance on the design of large Phase 3 studies
Any time during the process, to obtain an assessment of the IND application
Even though FDA offers extensive technical assistance, drug developers are not required to take FDAs suggestions. As long as
clinical trials are thoughtfully designed, reflect what developers know about a product, safeguard participants, and otherwise meet
Federal standards, FDA allows wide latitude in clinical trial design.
FDA IND Review Team
The review team consists of a group of specialists in different scientific fields. Each member has different responsibilities.
Project Manager: Coordinates the teams activities throughout the review process, and is the primary contact for the sponsor.
Medical Officer: Reviews all clinical study information and data before, during, and after the trial is complete.
Statistician: Interprets clinical trial designs and data, and works closely with the medical officer to evaluate protocols and safety
and efficacy data.
Pharmacologist: Reviews preclinical studies.
Pharmakineticist: Focuses on the drugs absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion processes.Interprets blood-level
data at different time intervals from clinical trials, as a way to assess drug dosages and administration schedules.
Chemist: Evaluates a drugs chemical compounds. Analyzes how a drug was made and its stability, quality control, continuity,
the presence of impurities, etc.
Microbiologist: Reviews the data submitted, if the product is an antimicrobial product, to assess response across different
classes of microbes.
Approval
The FDA review team has 30 days to review the original IND submission. The process protects volunteers who participate in clinical
trials from unreasonable and significant risk in clinical trials. FDA responds to IND applications in one of two ways:
Approval to begin clinical trials.
Clinical hold to delay or stop the investigation. FDA can place a clinical hold for specific reasons, including:
o Participants are exposed to unreasonable or significant risk.
o Investigators are not qualified.
o Materials for the volunteer participants are misleading.
o The IND application does not include enough information about the trials risks.
A clinical hold is rare; instead, FDA often provides comments intended to improve the quality of a clinical trial. In most cases, if FDA
is satisfied that the trial meets Federal standards, the applicant is allowed to proceed with the proposed study.
The developer is responsible for informing the review team about new protocols, as well as serious side effects seen during the trial.
This information ensures that the team can monitor the trials carefully for signs of any problems. After the trial ends, researchers
must submit study reports.
This process continues until the developer decides to end clinical trials or files a marketing application. Before filing a marketing
application, a developer must have adequate data from two large, controlled clinical trials.
Step 4: FDA Review
If a drug developer has evidence from its early tests and preclinical and clinical research that a drug is safe and effective for its
intended use, the company can file an application to market the drug. The FDA review team thoroughly examines all submitted data
on the drug and makes a decision to approve or not to approve it.
Find out how the FDA is Speeding Up the Approval Process.
New Drug Application
A New Drug Application (NDA) tells the full story of a drug. Its purpose is to demonstrate that a drug is safe and effective for its
intended use in the population studied.
A drug developer must include everything about a drugfrom preclinical data to Phase 3 trial datain an NDA. Developers must
include reports on all studies, data, and analyses. Along with clinical results, developers must include:
Proposed labeling
Safety updates
Drug abuse information
Patent information
Any data from studies that may have been conducted outside the United States
Institutional review board compliance information
Directions for use
FDA Review
Once FDA receives an NDA, the review team decides if it is complete. If it is not complete, the review team can refuse to file the
NDA. If it is complete, the review team has 6 to 10 months to make a decision on whether to approve the drug. The process
includes the following:
Each member of the review team conducts a full review of his or her section of the application. For example, the medical officer
and the statistician review clinical data, while a pharmacologist reviews the data from animal studies. Within each technical
discipline represented on the team, there is also a supervisory review.
FDA inspectors travel to clinical study sites to conduct a routine inspection. The Agency looks for evidence of fabrication,
manipulation, or withholding of data.
The project manager assembles all individual reviews and other documents, such as the inspection report, into an action
package. This document becomes the record for FDA review. The review team issues a recommendation, and a senior FDA
official makes a decision.
FDA Approval
In cases where FDA determines that a drug has been shown to be safe and effective for its intended use, it is then necessary to
work with the applicant to develop and refine prescribing information. This is referred to as labeling. Labeling accurately and
objectively describes the basis for approval and how best to use the drug.
Often, though, remaining issues need to be resolved before the drug can be approved for marketing. Sometimes FDA requires the
developer to address questions based on existing data. In other cases, FDA requires additional studies. At this point, the developer
can decide whether or not to continue further development. If a developer disagrees with an FDA decision, there are mechanisms
for formal appeal.
FDA Advisory Committees
Often, the NDA contains sufficient data for FDA to determine the safety and effectiveness of a drug. Sometimes, though, questions
arise that require additional consideration. In these cases, FDA may organize a meeting of one of its Advisory Committees to get
independent, expert advice and to permit the public to make comments. These Advisory Committees include a Patient
Representative that provides input from the patient perspective. Learn more about FDA Advisory Committees.
Step 5: FDA Post-Market Safety Monitoring
Even though clinical trials provide important information on a drugs efficacy and safety, it is impossible to have complete information
about the safety of a drug at the time of approval. Despite the rigorous steps in the process of drug development, limitations exist.
Therefore, the true picture of a products safety actually evolves over the months and even years that make up a products lifetime in
the marketplace. FDA reviews reports of problems with prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and can decide to add cautions to
the dosage or usage information, as well as other measures for more serious issues.
On this page you will find information on:
Supplemental Applications
INDs for Marketed Drugs
Manufacturer Inspections
Drug Advertising
Generic Drugs
Reporting Problems
Active Surveillance
Supplemental Applications
Developers must file a supplemental application if they wish to make any significant changes from the original NDA. Generally, any
changes in formulation, labeling, or dosage strength must be approved by FDA before they can be made.
INDs for Marketed Drugs
If sponsors want to further develop an approved drug for a new use, dosage strength, new form, or different form (such as an
injectable or oral liquid, as opposed to tablet form), or if they want to conduct other clinical research or a post-market safety study,
they would do so under an IND.
Manufacturer Inspections
FDA officials conduct routine inspections of drug manufacturing facilities across the United States, and abroad if approved products
are manufactured overseas. Manufacturers may be informed of inspections in advance, or the inspections may be unannounced.
Inspections may be routine or caused by a particular problem or concern. The purpose of these inspections is to make sure that
developers are following good manufacturer practice. FDA can shut down a facility if minimum standards are not met.
Drug Advertising
FDA regulates prescription drug advertisements and promotional labeling. By law, a developer is prohibited from advertising
unapproved uses of their product.
All advertisements, such as product claims or reminder ads, cannot be false or misleading. They must contain truthful information
about a drugs effectiveness, side effects, and prescribing information. These advertisements can be found in medical journals,
newspapers, and magazines, and on the Internet, television, or radio.
Promotional labeling differs from drug advertisements in the way it is distributed. Pharmaceutical companies give out brochures or
other promotional materials to physicians or consumers. The drugs prescribing information must accompany promotional labeling.
Learn more at Prescription Drug Advertising.
Generic Drugs
New drugs are patent protected when they are approved for marketing. This means that only the sponsor has the right to market the
drug exclusively. Once the patent expires, other drug manufacturers can develop the drug, which will be known as a generic version
of the drug. Generic drugs are comparable to brand name drugs and must have the same:
Dosage form
Strength
Safety
Quality
Performance characteristics
Intended use
Because generic drugs are comparable to drugs already on the market, generic drug manufacturers do not have to conduct clinical
trials to demonstrate that their product is safe and effective. Instead, they conduct bio-equivalence studies and file an Abbreviated
New Drug Application. Learn more at Generic Drugs: Questions and Answers.
Reporting Problems
FDA has several programs that allow manufacturers, health professionals, and consumers to report problems associated with
approved drugs.
MedWatch is a gateway for reporting problems with medical products (drugs and devices) and learning about new safety
information. You can subscribe to regular MedWatch safety alerts.
Medical Product Safety Network (MedSun) monitors the safety and effectiveness of medical devices. FDA recruits 350
healthcare providers throughout the United States to report any medical device problems that result in serious injury or death.
Each month, FDA publishes the MedSun newsletter. The newsletter gives consumers important information about medical
device safety.
Active Surveillance
Under the Sentinel Initiative, FDA is developing a new national system to more quickly spot possible safety issues. The system will
use very large existing electronic health databaseslike electronic health records systems, administrative and insurance claims
databases, and registriesto keep an eye on the safety of approved medical products in real time. This tool will add to, but not
replace, FDA's existing postmarket safety assessment tools. Learn more about the Sentinel Initiative and its major activities.
