Learn About Pharmacology

Understand how drugs interact with the body — receptor binding, pharmacokinetics, drug design, clinical trials, and the long journey from molecule to medicine cabinet.

Developing a new drug takes an average of 10-15 years and costs approximately $2.6 billion according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, with only about 12% of drugs entering clinical trials ultimately receiving FDA approval. Paul Ehrlich's concept of the "magic bullet" — a drug that selectively targets disease without harming healthy tissue — was realized in 1910 when he developed Salvarsan, the first effective treatment for syphilis and the birth of chemotherapy. The FDA's four-phase clinical trial system, established in its modern form by the 1962 Kefauver-Harris Amendment (prompted by the thalidomide tragedy), requires testing in progressively larger human populations, with Phase III trials typically enrolling 1,000-5,000 patients to establish efficacy and safety.

Superlore makes learning about Pharmacology effortless with AI-generated audio lessons. Listen during your commute, workout, or downtime — and absorb complex ideas at your own pace. Every lesson includes citations so you can dive deeper into the sources.