Careers in Focus: Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, Third Edition

Ferguson

Description

Ferguson's Careers in Focus books are a valuable career exploration tool for libraries and career centers. Written in an easy-to-understand yet informative style, this series surveys a wide array of commonly held jobs and is arranged into volumes organized by specific industries and interests. Each of these informative books is loaded with up-to-date career information presented in a featured industry article and a selection of detailed professions articles. The information here has been researched, vetted, and analyzed by Ferguson's editors, drawing from government and industry sources, professional groups, news reports, career and job-search resources, and a variety of other sources. For readers making career choices, these books offer a wealth of helpful information and resources.

Each profession article includes:

• Quick Facts: a snapshot of important job facts


• Overview: briefly introduces duties and responsibilities


• History: describes the origins and history of the job


• The Job: describes primary and secondary goals and duties


• Earnings: discusses salary ranges and typical fringe benefits


• Work Environment: looks at typical work conditions and surroundings associated with the job


• Exploring: offers suggestions on how to gain experience and knowledge about—or even test drive—a career before making a commitment


• Education and Training Requirements: discusses required high school and post-secondary education and training


• Certification, Licensing, and Special Requirements: explains recommended and required certifications or prerequisites for the job


• Experience, Skills, and Personality Traits: summarizes the personal traits and skills and professional experience needed to get started and succeed


• Employer Prospects: gives an overview of typical places of employment and the best ways to land a job


• Advancement Prospects: presents an expected career path and how to travel it


• Outlook: summarizes the job's potential growth or decline in terms of the general economy and industry projections


• Unions and Associations: lists essential and helpful professional groups


• Tips for Entry: additional tips for preparing for a career and getting a foot in the door


• For More Information: lists organizations that provide career information, networking, and professional development


• Sidebars: short features showcasing stats, trivia, and insight about a profession or industry

Careers in Focus: Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, Third Edition covers 28 jobs, including:

• Biochemical Engineers


• Biochemists


• Bioinformatics Specialists


• Biologists


• Biomedical Engineers


• Biomedical Equipment Technicians


• Biotechnology Patent Lawyers


• Biotechnology Production Workers


• Biotechnology Research Assistants


• Chemical Engineers


• Chemical Technicians


• Chemists


• Clinical Research Coordinators


• Drug Developers


• Genetic Engineers


• Genetic Scientists


• Laboratory Technicians and Technologists


• Laboratory Testing Technicians


• Pharmaceutical Industry Workers


• Pharmacists


• Pharmacologists


• Pharmacy Technicians


• Senior Care Pharmacists


• Toxicologists

Sujets

• Pharmaceutical
• Careers
• Employabilité, métiers et formations
• Los ambiciosos
• Professional
• Career
• Pharmaceutical drug
• Income
• Education
• Economics
• Biotechnology
• Business
• Job
• Carrière
• Carrière & Mobilité

Informations

• Publié par: Infobase Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781646933372
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Careers in Focus: Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, Third Edition
Copyright © 2021 by Infobase
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information, contact:
Ferguson An imprint of Infobase 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001
ISBN 978-1-64693-337-2
You can find Ferguson on the World Wide Web at http://www.infobase.com
Contents Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Entries Biochemical Engineers Biochemists Bioinformatics Specialists Biologists Biomedical Engineers Biomedical Equipment Technicians Biotechnology Patent Lawyers Biotechnology Production Workers Biotechnology Research Assistants Chemical Engineers Chemical Technicians Chemists Clinical Research Coordinators Drug Developers Genetic Engineers Genetic Scientists Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Laboratory Testing Technicians Molecular and Cellular Biologists Pharmaceutical Industry Workers Pharmacists Pharmacologists Pharmacy Technicians Product Development Directors Product Management Directors Product Managers Senior Care Pharmacists Toxicologists Index
Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
Overview


Source: akank. Shutterstock.
The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry produces drugs and other products that help people and animals live healthier lives, recover from injuries, and fight illnesses. From its humble origins in local pharmacies and apothecaries that prepared “home remedies” during the Middle Ages, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology (or pharma/biotech) industry has grown into one of the leading industries in the world today. In the United States is one of the 10 most profitable industries in terms of percentage of revenues, is home to cutting-edge biological and chemical research, and offers opportunities for people across a wide spectrum of careers from scientists, physicians, and engineers to marketing and sales workers and human resources professionals.
Pharma/biotech companies produce three types of products: prescription therapeutics and prophylactics (drugs that treat or cure medical conditions or diseases and vaccines that prevent diseases), diagnostics (devices and tests used to diagnose disease), and over-the-counter consumer products, such as drugs and vitamins. Some experts also place medical technology (medtech) manufacturing under the umbrella of the pharma/biotech industry.
In a general sense, pharmaceuticals are defined as medicinal drugs that are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other regulatory bodies and are manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. Biotechnology, or biotech, is the use of biological research techniques to develop products and processes derived from living organisms. Biotechnology techniques are applied at the molecular level and include DNA typing and cloning, genetic manipulation, and gene transfer of plants, animals, and microorganisms. Biotech products, sometimes called biologics, are products that are created using recombinant DNA technology. According to the FDA, “biological products can be composed of sugars, proteins, or nucleic acids, or a combination of these substances. They may also be living entities, such as cells and tissues.” In recent years, the pharma and biotech sectors have become closely linked. Since the mid 1980s the terms biopharmaceuticals and biopharma have referred to both types of products. In that time, many biopharmaceutical firms have emerged, which are owned by traditional pharmaceutical companies and large drug manufacturers.
There are three main types of pharmaceutical companies. Large companies, sometimes known as innovative pharmaceutical companies, produce chemically-derived drugs and have many approved drugs on the market. They run huge research, development, and manufacturing efforts, sometimes with subsidiaries around the globe. Some innovative companies also produce biopharmaceuticals. Next are newer firms that often don’t have any approved drugs on the market, but that are involved in developing new drugs. Generic drug manufacturers, the last type, produce drugs developed by other manufacturers after the drug’s patent expires. Some generic companies also do original research and development to produce new drugs. 
“The lines between innovator and generic companies or between pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have become increasingly blurred, and most major multinationals now incorporate both biologics and generics subsidiaries in their portfolios,” according to the International Trade Administration. “As the prevalence of biosimilars grows, the high manufacturing and regulatory costs involved in developing these drugs further clouds traditional distinctions between innovative and generic business models and investment cycles.”
Pharmaceutical companies are scattered throughout the United States, but the greatest concentrations exist in the Middle-Atlantic states (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) and on the West Coast in California. A significant number of companies are also located in Massachusetts, Illinois, and North Carolina. California and Massachusetts have the largest number of biotechnology companies. North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New York, Texas, and Florida also have a large number of biotechnology companies, and according to the California Life Sciences Association, roughly a quarter of U.S. biotech jobs are in California.
Pharma/biotech companies are complex organizations that must adhere to strict scientific requirements and rigorous government regulation. Their success depends on the coordinated effort of many different types of workers. Typical departments at pharma/biotech companies include: business development clinical research commercial strategy corporate communications engineering finance and administration human resources information services and technology legal affairs manufacturing and supply chain marketing and sales project management quality regulatory affairs research and development strategic planning
Opportunities in the pharma/biotech industry exist at every career level. Scientists who have graduate degrees are in demand, but so are workers with science-related bachelor’s and associate’s degrees. Workers with no scientific background may find jobs in administration, finance, law, marketing, and other areas. Even high school graduates may find work in production as capsule-filling-machine operators and tenders, fermenter and granulator machine operators, tablet testers, and quality-control workers. The bottom line is that pharma/biotech is a major jobs provider in the United States, and the employment outlook is good for well-qualified job seekers with cutting-edge skills and training. 
Background
Some of the principles and ideas of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology can be traced to the ancient world. The oldest known written records relating to pharmaceutical preparations, which are 5,000 years old, come from the Sumerians of the Middle East. Ancient Indian and Chinese cultures used primitive pharmaceutical applications to treat diseases that they believed were caused by the presence of spirits in the body. The Babylonians had elaborate laws relating to surgery and medicine. The ancient Assyrians, Greeks, and Egyptians, who used such medications as castor oil, senna, metallic salts, and a number of plants to cure a variety of illnesses, believed medications and medicine on the whole would purge and purify the body from sin, which they believed caused most illnesses. 
The roots of the modern pharmaceutical industry can be traced to the pharmacies and apothecaries that prepared traditional remedies all the way back to the Middle Ages. In fact, several pharmaceutical companies that still exist today were founded as town pharmacies. For example, Merck Company, the first pharmaceutical company, was founded in Germany in 1668 as a pharmacy. But it was not until 1827 that Merck transitioned from a pharmacy to a research-based industrial pharmaceutical company. 
This followed the earliest organized experiments in pharmaceutical preparation, which began in the 1600s. Exploration of the New World in the 17th century brought many previously unknown substances to the attention of European scientists, who conducted crude experiments to determine the toxicity of tobacco, ipecac, cinchona bark, coca leaves, and other substances. Most credit the 19th-century French physiologist Francois Magendie with the development of organized research in pharmaceutical substances. His studies of the poisons strychnine and carbon monoxide and the muscle relaxant curare helped to establish many of the modern principles of pharmacology, an integral part of the modern pharmaceutical industry.
Around this time—the mid 1800s—the pharmaceutical industry as we know it today began to form when industrial production of pharmaceuticals began. Many of today’s pharmaceutical giants were founded at that time, including Charles Pfizer & Company (1849), Bayer AG (1863), Eli Lilly and Company (1876), Johnson & Johnson (1886), Bristol-Myers Squibb (1887), and Abbott Laboratories (1888). Other pharmaceutical companies started out as chemical manufacturers. For instance, Frederich Bayer founded Bayer in Germany in 1863 to make synthetic dyes. Ciba and Sandoz (which merged to form Novartis) started out as dye manufacturers, then transitioned to producing pharmaceuticals. In 1852 the American Pharmaceutical Association was founded to represent the professional interests of pharmacists and others in the field. It is now known as the American Pharmacists Association.
In the United States, government intervention in the pharmaceutical industry began in 1848 with the Drug Importation Act, which restricted the import of substandard or adulterated dr