1. A Career in the
Pharmaceutical Sciences
Unlimited Potential
Sponsored by the American Association
of Pharmaceutical Scientists
2. What are the Pharmaceutical
Sciences?
The pharmaceutical sciences combine a broad
range of scientific disciplines that are critical to
the discovery and development of new drugs
and therapies.
3. Drug Discovery and Design
Taxol Synthesis-
Science Saving Lives
3D model of a Taxol molecule
4. Drug Delivery
EIGHT HOURS OF INSULIN ACTIVITY FROM A
SINGLE OCULAR INSERT
Placebo
Ocular Insert
140 Eydrop
%of initial glucose level
120
100
80
60
40
20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (hours)
Recent research findings from the University of Arizona
7. Pharmacokinetics and Drug
Metabolism
GRAPEFRUIT JUICE MAY HAVE POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS
INTERACTIONS WITH MULTIPLE MEDICATIONS
80 with grapefruit juice
Lovastatin (ng/ml)
with water
60
40
20
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (hr)
(Kantola et al., 1997)
8. Pharmacokinetics and Drug
Metabolism
WHEN MEDICATIONS ARE USED TOGETHER, THE
DRUG EFFECTS MAY CHANGE
Plasma tamoxifen (ng/ml)
with rifampin
160 without rifampin
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
336
0 100 200
Time (hr)
(Kivisto et al, 1998)
9. Drug Analysis
A research assistant readying an
analytical system for drug analysis
10. Cost Effectiveness of Medicines
Annual Cost to U.S. for Medication Related Problems
costs without
Physicians Visits pharmacy care
cost with pharmacy
Additional care
Problems
Medication-related
Prescriptions
Emergency Room
Visits
Hospital
Admissions
Long-term-care
Facility Admissions
Total
$0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 $70 $80
Billions of dollars spent
The economic impact of pharmacy care
11. Education/Training Options
B.S./M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics,
Biomedical Engineering, Information
Technology, or related field
Pharm.D.
Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences
12. Career Prospects
Pharmaceutical Industry - for all degree
levels
Research Laboratories - for all degree levels
Teaching/Research in Academics - Ph.D. or
Pharm.D.
Regulatory Agencies - for all degree levels
13. Mean Base Annual Salaries
Overall (x $1000)
Industry Academia Government
Ph.D. 97.6 95.1 81.4
(Based on 2001 AAPS Salary Survey)
14. Mean Base Annual Salaries
by Experience (x $1000)
0–5 5 – 10 10 – 20 20 – 30 > 30
yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs.
B.S. 48.5 56.0 72.0 80.0 85.0
M.S. 55.0 58.0 76.0 100.0 106.0
Ph.D. 72.0 87.0 108.0 120.0 120.5
(Based on 2001 AAPS Salary Survey)
15. Is a Career in the Pharmaceutical
Sciences Right for Me?
It certainly is if:
You enjoy science classes and want to
pursue a science-based career.
You desire to contribute to the health and
well-being of society through the
development of medicines and therapies.
16. Contact Information
American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists
(AAPS)
www.aaps.org
703-243-2800
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
www.aacp.org
703-739-2330
American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA)
www.aphanet.org
202-628-4410
Local Schools of Pharmacy
17. Presentation Notes
Slide3 - Drug Discovery and Design deals with the design and synthesis of new drug
molecules. This category includes specialized fields of study such as medicinal chemistry,
combinatorial chemistry and biotechnology. Taxol is a potent anti-cancer agent found in small
amounts in the bark of the slow growing Pacific yew tree. Unfortunately the process that extract
the drug from the bark also kills the tree. One adult tree produces only 1 gram of this
medication. Through the advances of medicinal chemistry, a way has been found to produce a
taxol-like drug (Taxolene) from the needles of the European yew tree. This pharmaceutical
breakthrough has greatly increasing the availability of this drug.
Slide 4 -Drug Delivery is concerned with the design of dosage forms - such as tablets, injection
or patches - that will deliver the drug in the right amount at the right time within a patient. The
normal model of delivery of insulin to the patients is through multiple daily intramuscular or
subcutaneous injections. To bridge the gap in the treatment of patients with diabetes, a variety
of approaches have been attempted. A pharmaceutical lab at the University of Arizona is trying
to develop a non-painful and an effective way of delivering insulin into the body. They have
compared the reduction of plasma glucose levels following the use of eye drops and a newly
formulated ocular insert. This graph illustrates that when the new ocular formulation was used,
the reduction of glucose levels persisted for more than 8 hours. (Research conducted in Dr. Sam
Yalkowsky’s laboratory, University of Arizona)
Slide 5 - Another example of drug delivery research is the nicotine patch. Nicotine patches wer
developed to delivery nicotine through the skin. This type of system has been used effectively to
help people quit smoking. (left scan PDR 1999; right scan Chien ed. Transdermal Controlled
Systemic Medications. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York 1987.)
18. Presentation Notes
Slide 6 - Drug Action examines how the drug itself actually works in a living system. The action
of the drug can be studied at the molecular level, in a cell, an organ, and in animals. Specialty
fields include molecular biology, pharmacology, pharmacodynamics, toxicology and
biochemistry.
Slide 7 - Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism. This discipline examines the behavior of
the drug in the body. Researchers in this discipline perform studies to examine the absorption,
distribution, metabolism, and elimination of drugs and the kinetics of drug responses. An
example of such research showed that grapefruit juice could have dangerous interactions with a
number of medications. The study shown here has looked at the effect of grapefruit juice on the
systemic exposure of a cholesterol-lowering agent, lovastatin. Grapefruit juice greatly increased
the systemic exposure of lovastatin. This may increase the risk of skeletal muscle toxicity
associated with lovastatin. The following warning label has been posted as a result of this type of
research: Avoid eating grapefruit and drinking grapefruit juice while being treated with the
following medications: CYCLOSPORINE, FELODIPINE, MIDAZOLAM, NIFEDIPINE,
NISOLDIPINE, QUINIDINE, TERAZOSIN, TERFENADINE, TRIAZOLAM, LOVASTATIN,
AND SIMVASTATIN. (Graph reproduced from Kantola et al. Clinical Pharmacology &
Therapeutics 1998; 63:397-402)
Slide 8 - Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism. Another example of this research area is
examination of the interactions of medication when used concomitantly. Drug-drug interactions
can cause unwanted adverse effects and/or reduce the effectiveness of the medications.
Tamoxifen is a medication used to treat and prevent breast cancer. Rifampin is used in the
treatment of patients with tuberculosis. The systemic exposure of tamoxifen measured as the area
under the plasma concentration versus time curve was decreased significantly when
coadministered with rifampin. This can reduce the efficacy of tamoxifen. (Graph reproduced
from Kivisto et al., Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics 1998; 64:648-654)
19. Presentation Notes
Slide 9 - Drug Analysis involves separating, identifying, and quantifying the components of
a sample. Analytical chemistry is an important component of all areas of the pharmaceutical
sciences.
Slide 10 - Pharmacoeconomics examines the health and economic related outcomes of
drug selection and patient management (e.g., quality of life, physician visits, potential
hospitalization). An example of research in this discipline found that each year, avoidable
medication-related problems cost the U.S. $76.5 billion in additional medical associate
expenses. $45.6 billion of this unnecessary cost can be avoided by implementing proper
pharmaceutical care, such as: proper drug choice, proper use of the drug, and improving
patient compliance.(Bootman JL, Johnson JA. Drug-related mortality and the economic
impact of pharmaceutical care. Am J Hosp Pharm. 1997; 54:554-558)
Slide 12 - There are wide range of employment opportunities in the pharmacy sciences. The
three major areas of employment are industry (drug manufactures), academia (universities),
and the government (the FDA). This is the average salary breakdown for a pharmacy
science Ph.D. (www.aaps.org/members/newsletter/dec98/salsurv.htm)
Slide 13 - This is a slide on the average salary in different employment groups.
(www.aaps.org/members/newsletter/dec98/salsurv.htm)
Slide 14 - This is a slide on the average salary in industry broken down by degree type and
years of experience. (www.aaps.org/members/newsletter/dec98/salsurv.htm)
