By Healthcare Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
Clinical trials are when members of the public volunteer to help determine the safety and effectiveness of recently developed drugs, vaccines, and therapies. Often the experimental group is given a treatment, and another, the control, is given a placebo (aka nothing).
What are the different phases of clinical trials?
There are four phases of clinical trials, each of which builds upon learnings from the prior assessment.
- Phase 1: First round with a small group of healthy patients, mostly to test safety.
- Phase 2: Second round also with a small group to see how the drug is metabolized and look at initial efficacy data.
- Phase 3: Third round with a large group to verify efficacy and safety.
- Phase 4: Final round after a drug is licensed to gather more data on the drug’s efficacy, safety, and effectiveness in routine use.
How have companies conducted clinical trials?
Medical device company Abbott has run multiple deep brain stimulation trials to address treatment-resistant depression, the most recent of which restarted in September 2024.
Retail pharmacy giant Walgreens also started doing clinical trials in summer 2022, with a particular focus on creating more diversity in the space. In August 2024, the company expanded its efforts and partnered with the Department of Health and Human Service’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to conduct decentralized trials, or trials that occur in more real-life environments, like at a patient’s home or in a pharmacy.
And, probably unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence has also become a potential asset to grow and improve clinical trial processes.
