Research and development (R&D) lies at the heart of the pharmaceutical industry. It invests 30 per cent of its sales in research, and a quarter of the entire research expenditure by the UK manufacturing sector is funded or carried out by the pharmaceutical sector.

Of the 68,000 people employed directly by pharmaceutical companies in the UK, 26,000 work in pharmaceutical research and development, many of them highly skilled scientists. Output per employee is more than £230,000 per year.

For more information on the wide variety of careers in R&D, visit the Research and Development section in Working in the Industry.