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WS1.2
Introduction to Chemistry Worksheet Xiaozhang Zheng (his American friends call him Zang) is a friend of mine that worked for Neurogen, a small biotech company in Branford, Connecticut. Unfortunately they went out of business in 2008. He is a chemist that was part of a team working to develop a new pill for relieving pain. As of 2008 this medicine is in phase II clinical trials. The medicine is known currently as MK-2295, and it works in a brand new way, by docking into a receptor known at TRPV1. Here is your at-home homework assignment. Use the internet to answer these questions. 1. Describe the purpose of each of the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) phases for experimental drug clinical trials: Phase I: Phase II: Phase III: Launch: 2. What is the status of MK-2295? Hint- you may want to try the following websites: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00387140?term=mk+2295&rank=1 and http://clinicaltrialsweb.blogspot.com/2008/03/caution-recommended-following-studyon.html
On a typical day my friend Zang arrives to work in the morning, has a cup of tea, and does a computer search for any important scientific updates that relate to his field. Then he goes into the lab and checks on any chemical reactions that have run overnight to see if they are complete. To do this he will pull out a small sample (an aliquot) and have them analyzed on some instruments in a nearby lab. Then he will start some new chemical reactions to make some more research drugs for testing. Those that are complete he will take over to a nearby building where they will be tested on some animal cell lines to see if they are effective, and safe. As the reactions are cooking he will prepare some stock aqueous solutions that he routinely uses during the day. Before he leaves at the end of the day he will draw some of the molecules he is planning for the next day on his computer and the computer will predict whether those compounds are likely to be safe, effective, and whether anyone else has made them before.
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