ABSTRACT
Pharmacological clinical research has had an illustrious past, is experiencing a problem-filled present, and–despite prevailing pessimism–has a promising future. New chemical entities developed by the serendipity of the past but as a consequence of scientifically predetermined lines of pursuit will be presented for evaluation, especially in the field of biological process modulation. In the end, when the ultimate pharmacopoeia is written, it is likely that the specific drug for each ailment will be a precisely turned tool, machines to act upon a well-defined cellular component or biochemical process. Clinical pharmacology-the science concerned predominantly with the study of drugs in man-is an integral but essentially independent part of the cycle of drug development. A number of factors will benefitially influence the growth in scope of clinical pharmacology: Despite the problems, the disappointments, the frustrations, the financial setbacks, and the unforeseeable mishaps, progress toward that ultimate goal of a cure for every ill will continue unabated.
