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Pre-Clinical Research
Under FDA requirements, a sponsor must first submit data showing that the drug is reasonably safe for use in
initial, small-scale clinical studies. Depending on whether the compound has been studied or marketed previously, the sponsor may
have several options for fulfilling this requirement: (1) compiling existing nonclinical data from past in vitro laboratory or
animal studies on the compound; (2) compiling data from previous clinical testing or marketing of the drug in the United States
or another country whose population is relevant to the U.S. population; or (3) undertaking new preclinical studies designed to
provide the evidence necessary to support the safety of administering the compound to humans.
During preclinical drug development, a sponsor evaluates the drug's toxic and pharmacologic effects through in vitro and in
vivo laboratory animal testing. Genotoxicity screening is performed, as well as investigations on drug absorption and metabolism,
the toxicity of the drug's metabolites, and the speed with which the drug and its metabolites are excreted from the body. At the
preclinical stage, the FDA will generally ask, at a minimum, that sponsors: (1) develop a pharmacological profile of the drug; (2)
determine the acute toxicity of the drug in at least two species of animals, and (3) conduct short-term toxicity studies ranging
from 2 weeks to 3 months, depending on the proposed duration of use of the substance in the proposed clinical studies.
Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Handbook.
Back to The New Drug Development Process
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