• Question: Has any of your testing contributed to any medicines that anyone uses today

    Asked by anon-253460 to Leanne, James_the_Scientist on 11 May 2020. This question was also asked by anon-255160.
    • Photo: James Beswick

      James Beswick answered on 11 May 2020:

      Hi James, great question. The drug discovery process can take over 10 years, and also cost over $1 BILLION. And that is just for the drugs that are successful. My research is very early in the drug discovery process, so none of my research is yet to make an impact to the general public. However, my molecules are currently helping Biologists to understand how inflammation might contribute to disease. This is useful to the Biologists for their research now, and perhaps useful to the wider public – but not for several years yet.

    • Photo: Leanne Milton-Harris

      Leanne Milton-Harris answered on 12 May 2020:

      Hi James, good question! As James said, drug discovery is a very very long and expensive process, and the vast majority of drugs we make will never make it as far as patients. Medicines go through a huge number of tests to make sure they’re safe and effective before they can be used, and most new drugs fail at some point. I work in the very early stages of drug discovery, identifying new targets that can be treated and testing new compounds against these targets to make sure they’re effective. Once we have really good tests in cells and in animal models, and a new drug that works well in those tests, we start talking to the big pharmaceutical companies who can get a medicine through all the development and testing that’s needed before it’s used to treat patients. The thing I’m working on right now is going well though, so maybe in another 10 years it’ll make it to patients!

Comments

  • Photo: Alex

    Alex commented on :

    Hi! I used to work in clinical trials, where potential medicines are tested in people to make sure they’re safe and work properly. This is probably the closest I got to medicines being used by patients today, because it takes decades of work and millions of pounds to get to a medicine that can be given out by doctors. But I worked on all sorts from diabetes medicines, to schizophrenia to arthritis!