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Pharmacists in industry can hold positions in sales marketing, research and development, production and quality control as well as in administration and management. Industry pharmacists are able to use their pharmacy training and skills at the same time, experience professional growth and personal satisfaction in a challenging environment. Entry level salaries are competitive with other areas of pharmacy practice, and the opportunities for long range advancement, earning and fringe benefits are generally better in industry. The following will exemplify specific career opportunities for pharmacists in the pharmaceutical industry.

Sales and Marketing

The sales area is generally regarded as one for the ways for pharmacists to get into the pharmaceutical industry. The sales representative usually calls on pharmacists, physicians and nurses and in some cases , dentists and veterinarians with details on the products of their companies. The objective of these calls is to provide the various professional audiences with enough comprehensive information on products to encourage their use, and prescription or recommendation on that product by the appropriate health care specialist. Many pharmaceutical companies prefer a candidate with a pharmacy background for sales positions.
The marketing department is responsible for developing and implementing marketing plans to promote the company’s products to the appropriate target audience. Most of the pharmaceutical companies have developed their own unique marketing set-ups. In some firms, the department is organized by category, such as prescription products marketing and OTC (Over-the-Counter) product marketing. Most marketing departments include :

Marketing Research – which analyses business trends, sales histories of the company’s products, competitive information, prescribing and recommendation habits of practitioners and new business opportunities within the market.

Product Management – which oversees the overall marketing plan for a specific product to support the sales team of the organization by providing them with the sales promotion tools like visual aids, product leaflets, information brochures, etc.

New Product Development – which explores consumer needs and identifies potential new products to satisfy those needs.

Production

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is changing constantly by developing new technologies. Equipments often become obsolete in a short span of 3 to 5 years. Thus, the pharmacists and other production employees must constantly learn and adapt to new technologies and procedures. Pharmacists who want to advance in careers in manufacturing usually will need and advanced degree, beyond their entry level pharmacy graduation.

Pharmacists have opportunities in the following formulation departments :

Tablets:
Capsules
Sterile Products
Semi-solid Preprations
Liquids

Quality control , Quality Assurance

The QA department establishes sampling and testing procedures to make certain that each lot of product meets both company and FDA specicifications. The system also ensures the potency,purity and dose to dose uniformity of the product, in addition to the physical, chemical and biological data , stability of the finished trade package and appropriate expiration dates . The quality control department also checks the not only the quality and quantity of the active ingredients but also the uniformity and creditability of the non active ingredients.

In order to assure comlience with primrary regulations issued by the FDA to the industry, titled current good manufacturing practices in the manufacture, processing or holding of human and veterinary drugs, and with their own internal policies and procedures , the pharmaceutical industry has developed very sophisticated quality control/Assurance departments with well defined responsibilities.

The responsibility of the Quality Assurance department includes the implementation of various new policies in the company and monitoring and auditing the quality of formulations, where as the quality control department is responsible for the day-to-day control of quality within a company by conducting in – process Quality control testing where required, performing environmental monitoring and inspecting operations for complience and finally by conducting the required test on finished dosage forms.

Research and Development

Fifty years ago, it was not sufficiently realized that basic chemicals and pharmaceuticals are two different industries; the later depends, by and large , on the pharmer for its growth. Unfortunatly, in India while the pharmaceutical industry has grown, the chemical industry lagged behind. Indeed it is now progressing at a fast rate . It is now imarative for the Indian pharmaceutical industries to give greater emphasis to basic research for discovery and development of new drug molecules as against R & D activities . Which have so far been mainly devoted to formulation development work . In the contents of product pattern protection in GATT and to be globally comptitetive, investment in R & D by the pharmaceutical industry will have to be substantial to increase focus in the areas of discovery and development of new drug molecules

Approximately 12% of all the pharmacists are enagaged in R & D of new drug or new dosage forms of existing products. This area of the industry is stimulating and they suited specifically to pharmacists with a strong specific background.

Other Oppurnitites for Pharmacists

A pharamacist can prepare himself for the operations of his own store (retail or wholesale ) or he can start his own production unit . The pharmacist can also work as hospital pharmacist in govt. or private hospitals . There are several departments and research institutes in the central and state govts. Whether the basic qualifications required for the job is exclusively pharmacy graduate and any other higher education in pharmacy. Pharmacists with the desired qualifications can also teach in pharmacy institutes.