Working in the industry

Scientist looking at petri dish on the microscope platform

More than 65% of all medical research and development in the UK is carried out by the pharmaceutical industry.

Even at the start of the 21st century there are many diseases which cannot be cured by existing medicines and surgical treatment. For some there are treatments available, but they often involve complicated combinations of medicines, or the medicines have side effects which discourage people from taking them.

So, discovery and development of new medicines is still very important. Pharmaceutical companies in the UK employ thousands of people, 73,000 at the last count, including laboratory scientists, engineers, IT professionals, statisticians, doctors, pharmacists, marketing managers, medical representatives and many others. In addition to these, there are more than 6,000 people working for specialist companies which provide services to the sector.

Scientist in the background, with huge stainless steel vats in the foreground

title-strip icon Research and Development

Research and Development (R&D) covers the initial search for a molecule to treat the disease, through to having a product ready to market.

 Pharmaceutical production line, crammed with empty glass vials running through a stainless steel machine

title-strip icon Manufacturing and Supply

If you like the idea of a career where your own skills develop as fast as the technology that you’re exploiting, then manufacture is ideal.

 Three analysts look at the charts on a screen

title-strip icon Commercial

Within the commercial side of a company there are a large number of people working towards promoting the medicines their company produces.

 Two men in an office setting are in conversation

title-strip icon Support functions

As with all large organisations, pharmaceutical companies need an infrastructure to run them.