The QPS clinical trial site in Springfield, Missouri, is staffed with healthcare providers and front-line healthcare workers and has remained open during the pandemic, providing clinical trial services to support new drug and vaccine development. Recently, as part of the US COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, QPS Missouri was granted an allotment of COVID-19 vaccine for its front-line …
What Is a Phase IV Clinical Trial?
For the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a drug or medical device for consumer use, all clinical research must have ended – right? Wrong. In fact, one critical phase of testing remains: a Phase IV (Post Marketed Research) clinical trial. While Phase I (Safety), Phase II (Effectiveness), and Phase III (Benefit) studies must occur before the FDA can …
What Is a Phase III Clinical Trial?
Researchers are always striving to discover better drugs and medical devices. Compared to standard treatments currently available to consumers, these drugs and devices might relieve symptoms more effectively, reduce the number of side effects, or offer improved safety, amongst other benefits. If the investigators cannot prove that their new drug or device is at least …
What Is a Phase II Clinical Trial?
Did you know that clinical trials are divided into four distinct phases? Each phase plays an important role in the process and adds to researchers’ understanding of the drug or medical device being tested. If a drug or device doesn’t successfully proceed through one of the phases, it cannot continue on to the next phase, forcing …
Informed Consent in Clinical Trials
The American Medical Association considers informed consent a legal and ethical necessity. Per its Code of Medical Ethics, informed consent is a communication process that happens when the doctor receives authorization for a treatment from either the patient or the patient’s surrogate if the patient lacks decision-making capabilities. Generally speaking, to successfully obtain this consent, …
What Is a Phase I Clinical Trial?
When it comes to the development of new drug research, the FDA takes human safety very seriously. So, after a potential new drug has been developed, it must be thoroughly assessed through preclinical research before it can be tested on humans. If all goes as planned, the drug can advance to a phase I trial, …
Where Does a Clinical Trial Usually Take Place?
It’s always a little nerve-racking to try something new. It requires us to step outside our comfort zones, ask others for guidance, and accept a certain amount of uncertainty. So if you’re feeling a bit nervous about the prospect of signing up for a clinical trial, we encourage you to learn more about the process. …
Types of Clinical Trials
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “A clinical study involves research using human volunteers (also called participants) that is intended to add to medical knowledge.” Within this broad definition, there are many varieties of clinical trials. Some trials examine new treatment methods, while others assess ways to prevent diseases. Some trials evaluate techniques …
How to Participate in Clinical Trials
New drugs and pharmaceutical breakthroughs would not be possible without clinical research. Researchers strive to develop new ways to diagnose, prevent, and treat diseases, but without clinical trials, they would not be able to test the safety and effectiveness of their innovations and receive FDA approval. Clinical trials are always seeking new participants: healthy people as …
How Do Clinical Trials Work?
How do clinical trials work? This simple question can have a variety of answers, depending on what is meant exactly. Someone asking this question might be wondering about the process of joining a clinical trial, the phases of clinical trials, or what happens during a clinical trial. To clarify all of these topics and provide some …
