Types of Clinical Research Studies

There are two ways to do clinical drug research studies or trials, as an in-patient or as an outpatient volunteer. In-patient studies are conducted at a clinical research facility, and can be from 1 to 30 days long. In-patient and outpatient studies can be consecutive or consist of multiple visits. Once you decide what is best for you, research the different drug studies available for volunteers.

Investigational Drug Studies

Investigational drug studies are the most common study available. You are evaluated and if chosen for the study you are given a trial medicine for your medical condition. Usually 6 out of 10 patients receive the actual trial drug and the others receive a placebo. In some of the studies you'll evaluate a name brand label to a generic label. This type of study is called bio-equivalency study.

Mass market drug studies is the study of drugs that are already on the market. The studies are done to learn the effects of the drug with certain variables like alcohol, diet, or other types of prescription drugs. They are done to determine how something in your daily life can affect the drug and to determine whether it is safe or not. The study also compares the differences in the look-alike drugs. Sometimes they use a mass spectrometry; which is quickly becoming the premier tool for analyzing various drug metabolism samples in the early phases of drug discovery and research. Using mass spectrometry for drug metabolism studies is a resource for professionals in the fields of mass spectrometry and drug metabolism. The mass spectrometry is used in comparing the differences in the name brand or generic forms.

The radio label drug study is the study of a radioactive element that allows the drugs to appear better in blood, urine and stool collections. The radioactive element is carbon 14 and is given to the patient in a low dose. When involved in this study you take one or more doses of the drug without the radioactive element and then one dose with the radioactive element. After the doses are taken multiple blood is drawn, and at this point, you stop dosing and start the urine, stool and blood collections. When the clinic has determined that the drug has been completely released from your system via blood, urine and stool, you are released from the clinic. The amount of days spent in the clinic varies for each person, because each person's metabolism is different making each radioactive study different.