9 Jobs for Pharmacists in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Pharmacists are equipped with unique skills that are highly desirable in the pharmaceutical industry — among them conducting research and developing new therapeutics, designing and managing clinical trials, establishing safety regulations, providing medical information and education, and engaging with key opinion leaders. No matter where you are in your career as a pharmacist, if you have an interest in the pharmaceutical industry but are unsure of the opportunities available or how to get there, read on.
Today, more pharmacy students and seasoned practitioners alike are drawn to careers that allow them to use their PharmD training in nontraditional settings, landing distinct roles from a diversity of backgrounds. Fellowships, for example, are a great way to gain early entry into the industry. A fellowship is a 1- to 2-year comprehensive training program designed for PharmDs to develop robust cross-functional experience in the sector. That said, many pharmacists are able to break into the business through networking and bringing complementary skills and experiences to the table.
The pharmaceutical industry aims to discover and produce safe and effective new drugs. Hence there are many different departments that benefit from the expertise of a PharmD. The diversity of roles in pharmaceuticals accommodates a broad range of interests, from clinical research and medical writing to more traditional business functions such as legal affairs, marketing, and sales.
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Here are nine specific roles that you can play in the pharmaceutical industry:
Medical information and communication
Medical science liaison
Regulatory affairs
Pharmacovigilance
Research and development
Clinical development
Marketing
Market Access
Sales
Let’s get into the details of each.
Medical information and communication
Professionals in this role serve as the in-house scientific and clinical experts for both internal and external stakeholders within the Medical Affairs department. They review all information for medical accuracy, from early-phase clinical trials to post-approval marketing materials, before there’s dissemination to the company’s target audience.
Responsibilities:
Synthesize and produce evidence-based scientific and clinical drug information responses to on- and off-label inquiries from those interested in company products
Review marketing materials to ensure accuracy of product’s benefits and risks and adherence to regulatory guidelines
Evaluate comparable products to support strategic planning
Assist in training field colleagues
PharmD skills involved:
Ability to understand, synthesize, and disseminate scientific and clinical data to the medical community
Scientific and clinical expertise in certain therapeutic areas
Strong verbal and written communication
Cross-functional teamwork and multitasking
Attention to detail
Medical science liaison
Professionals in this role serve as the field-based scientific and clinical experts on a given product within the Medical Affairs department, commonly focusing on a certain therapeutic area, and traveling to converse with key opinion leaders, known as KOLs, over 60% of the time. They link the research and development division with the commercial side of the pharmaceutical business by communicating medical information to internal and external stakeholders.
Responsibilities:
Provide in-depth scientific and medical information on the company’s products to KOLs such as physicians, scientists, and other healthcare professionals who hold knowledge in their relevant therapeutic area
Coordinate between the company and KOLs, cultivating strong two-way relationships to ensure the safe and effective use of a specific agent and relay key insights learned to contribute to product development
Develop drug information presentations and deliver them to target audiences
Offer evidence-based education on a given product
PharmD skills involved:
Strong verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills
Scientific and clinical expertise in certain therapeutic areas
Ability to understand, synthesize, and disseminate scientific and clinical data to the medical community
Flexibility and adaptability
Critical and strategic thinking
Regulatory affairs
Professionals in this role manage rules and regulations that exist to protect public health by directing product quality in the pharmaceutical industry. They link the company to relevant health authorities such as the FDA in the United States to comply with drug development regulatory standards, from discovery and preclinical to clinical and post-marketing oversight. Other facets of the job include the following:
Specializing in one or a few products within a certain therapeutic area, and strategically planning the FDA regulatory approval process
Serving one of many regulatory functions such as chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC), publishing and operational support, regulatory international, product development, and regulatory intelligence, as well as advertising, labeling, and promotion
Responsibilities:
Gather evidence from clinical trial data and submit it to regulatory bodies to prove product safety and efficacy, ensuring that drugs under development meet state and federal product regulations
Assist with the preparation and filing of investigational new drug applications, new drug applications, or biologics license applications
Collaborate with cross-functional colleagues to help companies develop strategies to enhance FDA approval, ensuring that studies are developed in agreement with health authority regulations and post-approval claims are consistent with clinical trial data
PharmD skills involved:
Strong scientific background
Understanding of regulatory compliance, benefits versus risks, and product quality
Ability to analyze clinical data and translate results into balanced and accurate claims
Cross-functional collaboration
Critical and strategic thinking
Attention to detail
Pharmacovigilance
Professionals in this role serve as the drug safety officers to prevent, discover, and evaluate drug-related problems. They continuously monitor a drug’s safety profile throughout its lifecycle pre- and post-marketing, ensuring its benefits outweigh its risks, reporting adverse effects to regulatory bodies, and providing patient education to the medical community.
Responsibilities:
Assess product safety reports, review safety events from clinical trial data, analyze trends, and compile product safety profile
Continue to monitor drug adverse effects in the real-world population and strategize appropriate mitigating actions
Promote medication safety and prevent the misuse of medications by communicating safety information to the company’s R&D department
Collaborate with regulatory authorities and external stakeholders to provide insight and improve product quality
PharmD skills involved:
Strong verbal and written communication
In-depth understanding of pharmacology and patient safety
Expertise in adverse event documentation, monitoring, and reporting
Ability to organize and prioritize tasks
Attention to detail
Cross-functional collaboration
Research and development
Professionals in this role primarily serve in a laboratory setting to help develop new drug products, evaluate existing products, and create new product formulations. They function as the backbone of the company, with extra attention from the general public especially during the pandemic.
Responsibilities:
Explore disease mechanisms and guide the discovery and development of new therapeutic agents
Identify and test drug candidates by conducting rigorous experiments and performing data analysis to determine therapeutic viability
Generate and manage a company’s drug “pipeline” so that, pending favorable clinical trial results and regulatory approval, medications can enter the market
PharmD skills involved:
Scientific knowledge and understanding of drug mechanisms
Attention to detail
Analytical and critical problem-solving
Ability to organize and prioritize tasks
Ability to analyze large data sets
Clinical development
Professionals in this role support drug candidates through all four phases of clinical trials, from early-stage safety and late-stage efficacy to post-approval examination. They serve one of many different functions such as clinical scientist, clinical director/medical manager, trial manager, operations lead, or clinical supply lead.
Responsibilities:
Develop clinical trial protocols and assist in design and execution
Help plan and perform clinical trials, assist in patient recruitment, and form relationships with relevant institutions
Evaluate product data on safety and efficacy, produce study summaries, and work with regulatory bodies
PharmD skills involved:
Critical thinking and problem-solving
Strong clinical background
Cross-functional collaboration
Ability to organize and prioritize tasks
Flexibility and adaptability
Project management
Marketing
Professionals in this role serve as a commercial crux of the pharmaceutical industry, creating and delivering accurate promotional materials on company products, especially close to and post-product launch. They follow industry guidelines and navigate laws, regulations, and standards to ensure the promotion of their company’s product is consistent with up-to-date medical information.
Responsibilities:
Collaborate with medical and legal partners to ensure accurate product information
Develop and lead marketing strategies and engagement plans with KOLs
Perform competitive analyses, research marketplace trends, and evaluate patient needs to uniquely position the company’s product within the market to add value in comparison to standard of care
Build branding and promotional materials, and disseminate product value through medium such as advertisements, speaker programs, and conference exhibits
PharmD skills involved:
Entrepreneurial spirit and strategic business-level thinking
Strong verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills
Attention to detail
Creativity and problem-solving
Flexibility and adaptability
Market access
Professionals in this role expand patient and healthcare provider access to company products through communications with stakeholders such as payers, pharmacy benefit managers, health systems, and pharmacies.
Responsibilities:
Develop payer reimbursement, drug distribution, and product adherence strategies
Evaluate and optimize product allocation within the indicated patient population
Support medication adherence strategies and disease state outreach
PharmD skills involved:
Clinical expertise and patient care experience
Understanding of potential challenges that patients face receiving a prescription
Strong verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills
Creativity and strategic thinking
Flexibility and adaptability
Sales
Professionals in this role connect the company with target customers, providing on-label medical information and product samples at institutions such as medical offices, pharmacies, and hospitals. They also provide education to healthcare providers on clinical data through visual aids.
Responsibilities:
Call and visit target audience, providing drug information and product samples
Pitch the company’s products based on in-depth and accurate information from the clinical trial data
Establish relationships with entire HCP team including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, medical assistants, and other staff
Collaborate with and deliver feedback to marketing colleagues on sales message
PharmD skills involved:
Strong verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills
Strategic business-level thinking
Cross-functional collaboration
Ability to organize and prioritize tasks
Flexibility and adaptability
The bottom line
Pharmacy is a highly regulated profession, and as pharmacists, we are trained as medication experts. Additionally, pharmacists thrive managing many tasks simultaneously and quickly prioritizing requests. So pharmacists bring tremendous value to the many cross-functional teams they work on throughout the pharmaceutical industry.
Whether you are a student, fellow, or pharmacist looking to land a job in the exciting and rapidly evolving pharmaceutical industry, check out the Industry Pharmacists Organization for more information on how to guide your path to becoming an industry pharmacist.
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