What does drug trials involve?

A new drug, after its development in the research laboratory, goes through a long and careful process before it is widely prescribed to patients. An important step in this process is to study the safety and effectiveness of the new drug in patients. Such a study cannot be done lightly, the Medical Ethical Review Board, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and/or the American FDA and the government of a country must give permission for drug trials which is a very elaborate process.

What happens after you apply for a drug trial?

When you apply for research at FemTrials, you are not committed to anything. Here’s what happens after you apply:

1. Our staff will contact you by email (online intake questionnaire) or by phone so that you can ask questions, and they can check your eligibility to take part in drug trials.
2. Then follows the introductory interview, in which you will be asked to answer on online adaptive questionnaire to validate if you meet the criteria of a particular drug trial you take part in.
3. If you qualify our research partner (often a university hospital, bioscience company or pharmaceutical company) will invite you to meet with them to discuss how you can participate in their drug trial or clinical study.
4. Once you have been selected for a certain study, the screening phase follows. In this we or our medical partners will perform various tests, such as a breast scan, blood test, urine test, pregnancy test, memory test, or ultrasound for example. If all is well here, the treatment phase can begin.
5. During the treatment phase, you will be given the medicine being studied, and you will occasionally visit the research centre for some tests, will need to stay at a test facility for a few days or will need to give blood every month during the drug trial phase. The number of visits, and the type of medicine, depends on the study you are taking part in.

Are you interested in possibly participating in a study or clinical trial? If so, please contact us.