Pharmaceutical development is the process by which a drug gets from the lab to the patient as a pharmaceutical product available via a physician’s prescription or over the counter in a pharmacy.
Developing a drug for therapeutic benefit is a long, complicated and non-linear process. Genuinely new drugs, that are not derived from a previously examined and approved substance are known as ‘novel’ or New Molecular Entities (NMEs).
The task to progress an NME, or any drug, to market today presents many challenges. The evolution of science and medicine has resulted in stricter guidelines, ensuring the creation of safer drugs, and other implications must now be considered.
The impact that the entire pharmaceutical development process, from research to manufacturing, has on the environment and society has created a new subset of drug developers. Those labeled as ‘green pharma’ – striving to create and deliver treatments that are benign by design.
