The Pharmaceutical Industry

It’s hard to imagine a world in which there are no antibiotics, no relief from common illnesses like asthma and diabetes, or hope of new treatment for fatal diseases.

The medicines that are available for doctors to prescribe are made, and most of them were discovered, by pharmaceutical companies.

In 2006, pharmaceutical companies in the UK spent £3.95 billion on pharmaceutical research and development – that’s an investment of going on for £11 million every day. To put it in context, over a quarter of all UK industry-supported research and development comes from the pharmaceutical industry.

The UK is at the forefront of these discoveries. Did you know, for example, that one in 5 of the world’s top medicines in the world were discovered and developed in Britain? This is as much as the rest of Europe combined, and more than any other country other than USA. Why work in pharmaceuticals? The fact is, one fifth of the UK's population has a chronic or long-term illness, and in people over 75 this ratio rises to more than half. So, although we're certainly achieving great things, there's still a lot of work to be done.

As well as providing new medicines for many diseases, the pharmaceutical industry makes a substantial contribution to the British economy, providing income, employment and major investments. Earnings from the exports of medicines exceeded imports by £4.3 billion in 2006 and the industry has been a net earner for Britain throughout all of the past 30 years.

Who works in pharmaceuticals? The industry in the UK employs around 68,000 people, including 26,000 highly-trained scientists and doctors. In addition, the industry generates about another 250,000 jobs in related industries. The pharmaceutical industry carries out more research by far than any other industry sector in the UK, bringing major health benefits to patients in Britain and all over the world.

The benefits of new medicines are felt by people all over the world. But, while you can clearly see the improvements they make to millions of people’s lives, there’s a lot more to the pharmaceutical industry than most people realise.

To continue to produce new medicines to treat and cure the diseases which still cause suffering and death throughout the world, the pharmaceutical industry in the UK highly motivated and skilled individuals. There’s a huge range of areas in which to pursue a career, from drug discovery through to sales and marketing – with vital functions throughout the development process such as clinical trials, IT, and human resources. This website will tell you about all of them. So you can see which specific role you think you could make your own. As an opportunity it’s breathtaking. As a career it’s life-giving.

• Explore the many different career areas in the pharmaceutical industry: Working in the Industry.
• For a list of potential employers: Pharmaceutical Recruiters