Topic outline

  • It takes about twelve years to develop a new medicine. During this time, highly qualified scientists from a variety of disciplines work on translating an idea for a new treatment approach starting from biological test systems in the laboratory to a drug candidate which can reach the patient. They screen 5,000 to 10,000 compounds, of which only four or five medicine candidates eventually remain for further critical assessment. These are then tested on humans in clinical studies. At the end of the process, only one substance becomes available to physicians and patients if is approved by authorities. Cooperation in interdepartmental, multidisciplinary teams is an important requirement for success in the complex process of medicines development.

  • Begin your learning

    Begin your learning on medicines research and development by watching the video below or listening to the podcast (the content is the same):


  • Overview of Medicines Development Lifecycle

  • What is next?

    In order to consider this introductory course as completed and get the certificate you need to:

    1. Access all content materials.

    You can decide if you want to watch the video and/or listen to the "Molecules to Medicines" podcast. Also to download the "Overview of Medicines Development Lifecycle" image is optional.

    2. Manually click on all 3 tick buttons available to mark each item as completed (this is mandatory)

    Before After

    Once you have done all of that the course will be marked as completed and you will receive the certificate via email (the certificate will be also available on your dashboard section at any time).

    Now you can check the Learning Catalogue again and pick a new course. It is recommended to access the courses in a consecutive order to better understand the process of medicines development, however you are free to take individual courses and do them in any preferred order.