meaning - Define Gauntlet in "the gauntlet of..."



Human tests—called clinical trials—are the gauntlet of drug development , and have three phases



What does "gauntlet" mean in the above context?


"throw down the gauntlet" is an idiom "to issue a challenge" where gauntlet refers to a type of glove. In the above extract the word gauntlet alone has been used as a noun, what does it mean there?




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