Literally hundreds and sometimes thousands of chemical compounds must be made and tested to find one that can achieve the desirable result without too-serious side effects. The complexity of the process can be gauged, in part, by the diversity of scientific disciplines engaged in finding new drugs. Traditional organic chemists, physiologists and statisticians have been joined in recent years by new kinds of specialists. Biochemists study the chemistry of life processes. Molecular biologists study the molecules that make up living matter.
Toxicologists investigate chemicals' potential for harm.
Pharmacologists look at how drugs work. And computer scientists apply the power of their sophisticated machines to analyze and assess new chemicals. Each provides a different way of looking for that needle. Such a complicated process costs vast amounts of time and money. The FDA estimates that, on average, it takes eight and a half years to study and test a new drug before the agency can approve it for the general public.