#internationalclinicaltrialsday

It is hard, if not impossible to grasp the developments in clinical trials since James Lind’s voyage of discovery in 1747. Lind’s approach to the blight of scurvy is inspirational and embodies the very spirit of clinical trial. A passion for a better quality of life for those around us that are afflicted by disease is the nucleus of the whole clinical trial effort of today’s modern world.

Lind’s solution to scurvy (which is believed to have claimed the lives of two million sailors) may seem simple enough today but consider for a moment what medicine looked like in his lifetime. Diagnosis of affliction in body and mind in the 1700’s and early 1800’s was largely void of any scientific theory or reasoning. Superstition ran wild and bodily imbalances were largely believed to be contracted from foul air, evil spirits, or a contracted disease for which purging was the most common remedy – normally the release of blood.

Clinical trials today, thankfully, take a more considered approach! From the late 19th century with the discovery and theory of germs by Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch, the clinical trial teams have seen a steady increase in demand and process for perfecting remedies for millions. The stream of vaccines that appeared in the 1960’s and 1970’s saw huge gains in the battle against many common human ailments.

This research goes ever onwards – and upwards! It’s no longer only on land and sea as Lind knew it, in addition to the clinical trials that are carried out in the four corners of the earth today they are also carried out in space where the absence of gravity is providing conditions for exploration and trials with medicine that were previously deemed impossible. The scientific and revolutionary breakthrough’s we witness from this truly universal effort fuels the passion to go further in our resolve to improve the lives of persons, and indeed whole nations of those less fortunate than ourselves.

The huge accumulation of data gained from research and development, and the knowledge we are acquiring from the various stages of clinical trials are in themselves delivering speed of development. The fast-tracking process of ZMapp® for Ebola is but one example of the whole medical world working together to trial and perfect a remedy for a disease of formidable potential magnitude.

Origin are proud to be a small part of this great work that’s occurring. Our special vials and closures are used for containing a whole array of products from the humble antibiotic to specialist nuclear medicines.

Our team is passionate about our contribution to the great work carried out by clinical trial organisations and we live by our simple mission statement, that of “bringing healing home”.