new drug

noun

: a drug that has not been declared safe and effective by qualified experts under the conditions prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the label and that may be a new chemical formula or an established drug prescribed for use in a new way

Examples of new drug in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Developing a new drug costs more than $2 billion and takes more than 10 years, but 90% of drug candidates fail in clinical trials. —Gil Press, Forbes.com, 3 Nov. 2025

Protein crystals grow larger and more uniformly in the absence of gravity, and crew members on the station are taking advantage of this fact to study and develop new drugs. —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 31 Oct. 2025

Designing new drugs in real time for resistant cancers will take longer, though. —Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2025

This opens exciting avenues for understanding virus emergence, assessing pandemic potential, and identifying new drug targets to combat viral infections. —Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 27 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1951, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for new drug

• debug
• humbug
• prodrug
• unplug
• antidrug
• mealybug
• multidrug
• chug
• doug
• dug
• hug
• jug

Medical Definition

new drug

noun

: a drug that has not been declared safe and effective by qualified experts under the conditions prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the label and that may be a new chemical formula or an established drug prescribed for use in a new way