WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Clinical trial/consumer trial

Clinical trial This is a research study on actual patients to see if a drug is safe and effective under strict scientific standards.

These trials focus on the safety and effectiveness of new medicines. A control group of patients is included which receives a dummy medication (placebo) for comparison.

The gold standard is a “double blind” study where neither patient nor doctor knows who’s taking the active drug.

Consumer trial Consumer trials aren’t scientific. They’re a marketing exercise to introduce a product to a group of consumers and are a way to try a new product before they decide to purchase it.

It allows the business to gauge the potential success of products before committing to a full launch. They’re done purely to spread the word about a new product.