Discovering Breakthrough Medicines Drug discovery begins in basic research, which provides the fundamental understanding of disease pathways and new drug candidates. The next step is developmental research, where researchers test the safety and efficacy of a new drug candidate and determine the metabolism of the drug and its interaction with the body and other drugs.
Clinical research is the third step.
Here, researchers take medicines produced during the development phase and evaluate them further for safety and efficacy. Engineers play a pivotal role in new product development by supplying active ingredients and formulated material. Here engineers produce bulk pharmaceutical compounds used in safety assessment and clinical trials. Engineers handle synthetic organic processes using complex organic chemistry and advanced separation technology to recover products. They monitor and evaluate new chemical processing technologies, while also working with other process research and developmental areas.