An experimental drug/medicine must first goes through rigorous testing in the laboratory. If the experimental drug/medicine has the potential to treat illness, it will undergo animal testing (also known as preclinical/non-clinical studies) to investigate the safety, toxicity and effect of the drug. The experimental drug/medicine must pass the animal testing before it can be tested in human.
It can take an average of 13 years to develop a new drug/medicine, from identifying a new compound to testing it in clinical trials and making it available to the public.