NIH Definition of a Clinical Trial: "A research study in which one or more human subjects are prospectively assigned to one or more interventions (which may in

NIH Definition of a Clinical Trial: "A research study in which one or more human subjects are prospectively assigned to one or more interventions (which may include placebo or other control) to evaluate the effects of those interventions on health-related biomedical or behavioral outcomes." A phase 1 clinical trial is used to determine safety (including dosage) and involves far fewer people than a stage III clinical trial. For Biotech startups, the companies value usually increases with each successfully completed trial. Conversely, the cost of conducting a trail also increases at each stage.