About clinical studies

What is a clinical study?

In a clinical study (also called a clinical trial or clinical research study), participants are assigned to one or more study drugs to learn more about the study drug, to find out if it works or works better than other treatments, and to find out if it has side effects.

What is an investigational drug?

An investigational drug (also called a study drug) is a substance that is being tested in a clinical research study. An ethics committee has reviewed the clinical study for testing in people, and the study drug may or may not be approved by the government health agency after study results are made available.