A History of Clinical Research

Research and the clinical trial is a fundamental tool of modern medicine. In fact, the clinical trial is the medical invention that has contributed to nearly all of the life saving medicines we know today.

These medicines have:

  • Added 10 years to our life expectancy.
  • Made organ transplants possible.
  • Made diabetes a manageable condition.
  • Extended the life expectancy of AIDS patients.
  • Prolonged the lives of millions of cancer patients.

Egypt 1550 BC

Medicines or formulas have been used to help heal the sick for centuries. Ancient Egyptians regularly documented their prescriptions, but there was no proof they worked.

600 BC

It wasn’t until 600 BC in the Book of Daniel the Bible describes what might be the first comparative trial. Daniel tested two diets to see which was healthier, a vegetarian diet or a diet rich with meats and wine. After a 10-day test, the vegetarian diet was judged most healthy.

1700's 

In 1754, Surgeon James Lind discovered that citrus fruit prevented scurvy by testing different foods aboard the HMS Salisbury. He ultimately saved the lives of thousands of British sailors. 

And in 1796, Edward Jenner conducted the famous trial that proved inoculation could prevent smallpox. Jenner’s trial was the first step toward mass vaccinations that conquered epidemics such as typhoid, yellow fever, polio and measles.

1900's 

The first modern clinical trial was conducted in 1946. British epidemiologist, Sir Austin Bradford Hill put patients into experimental and control groups at random. This eliminated any bias - only the test medicine would account for differences seen in the health of the two groups.

With the establishment of guidelines for ethical clinical trial conduct and regulations for drug development, more than 1019 novel drug therapies have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration – that’s virtually all the medicines used today.

All brought to you by the clinical trial.

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