Careers in pharmaceuticals

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW AND HIRING TRENDS ★ ANATOMY OF A COMPANY★ ON THE JOB: REAL PEOPLE PROFILES
CAREERS IN
PHARMACEUTICALS
insider guide
★★

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2011 edition
Insider
Guide
CareersinPharmaceuticals

Careers in Pharmaceuticals
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2011 Edition
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All illustrations by mckibillo

CHAPTer
21 41 the
PharmaCeutiCal
industry
at a glanCe
7 the industry
8 Overview
9 Anatomy of a Big
Pharma Company
10 The Drug
Development Cycle:
How Big Pharma
Works
13 Top Therapeutic
Classes
14 Industry Trends
19 Hiring Outlook
19 The Bottom Line
43 the WorKPlaCe
44 Company Culture
44 Diversity
44 Lifestyle
45 Compensation
45 Training and
Continuing
Education
45 Insider Scoop
3
23 on the Job
24 Research Jobs
24 Clinical Development
and Medical Jobs
26 Manufacturing and
Quality Assurance
Jobs
27 Business
Operations Jobs
28 Sales Jobs
29 Real People Profiles

7655 getting hired
56 The Recruiting
Process
57 Interviewing Tips
58 Getting Grilled
59 Grilling Your
Interviewer
61 For your
reFerenCe
62 Industry Lingo
65 Recommended
Reading
66 Online Resources
contents
5
49 the ComPanies
50 Big Pharma

ThePharmaceutical
IndustryataGlance
1

2 WETFEET INSIDER GUIDE
ChaPter2
ThEINDUSTRy
ChaPter3
ONThEJOb
ChaPter4
ThEWORkplacE
ChaPter5
ThEcOmpaNIES
ChaPter6
GETTINGhIRED
ChaPter7
FORyOURREFERENcE
ChaPter1
aTaGlaNcE
At A glAnCe
inDustry caPsulE
The global pharmaceutical industry discovers, tests,
and markets chemical entities to treat or prevent
a wide range of human aﬄictions. Today pharma-
ceutical (pharma) firms in the U.S. spend roughly
$50 billion per year on research and development to
bring new drugs to market. The industry counts among
its customers not only the patients who use the prod-
ucts and the physicians, nurses, pharmacists, benefits
organizations, but myriad other health-care profession-
als who make daily decisions on how to improve peo-
ple’s health and well-being.
Since the last quarter of the 20th century, the
industry has come to incorporate biotechnology, the
field of science that aims to replicate or revise cellular
functions to be more predictable or governable in some
way. This integration has largely occurred through the
acquisitive attitude of Big Pharma—that handful of
players that dominate the industry—toward biotech
companies, which tend to be small and focused on
research and development rather than sales. By scoop-
ing up its competition, Big Pharma grows its market
share and allows the industry to reduce its R&D
departments, instead augmenting them with biotech
acquisitions.
Biotechnology addresses more than the production
of medicines and diagnostic tools for treating illnesses;
it also intersects with sectors such as the environment
and agriculture. (The debate regarding genetically
modified crops, for instance, illustrates the role of
biotech in agricultural production.) Where it dovetails
with pharma, biotech opportunities are typically no
different—jobs in both fields have the same require-
ments, though nonscientists will generally find fewer
opportunities in biotech because the larger company in
a merger already has marketing and sales staff in place.
oPPortunity ovErviEw
Pharmaceutical companies employ people with all
kinds of backgrounds for all kinds of jobs. Some of
the principal professional careers in the pharmaceutical
industry include:
• research jobs: Scientists, lab technicians, engi-
neers, software developers, and physicians work at
the forefront of drug research and development.
There’s a high demand for scientists with back-
grounds ranging from molecular biology and bio-
chemistry to combinational chemistry, informatics,
and statistics, as well as for scientists with manage-
ment experience.
• clinical development and medical jobs: Physicians,
nurses, pharmacists, scientists, and statisticians
play critical roles in ushering developmental drugs
through clinical trials and maintaining relations
with the medical community once a drug is on
the market. People with excellent communications
skills and a willingness to work in a highly regulated
industry fit well in the regulatory affairs arena, serv-
ing as liaisons between Big Pharma and the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or its global
counterparts.
• manufacturing and quality assurance jobs: Many
types of engineers—chemical, electrical, industrial,
packaging, and mechanical—and scientists can
find ample opportunities in manufacturing, process
development, facility design, and quality assurance.

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3
• Business operations jobs: This category is huge,
encompassing a diverse array of positions through-
out a pharmaceutical company. MBAs and others
with a business background will find opportuni-
ties in marketing, business development, finance,
strategic planning, project management, HR, and
purchasing.
• Sales jobs: Drug companies maintain huge staffs of
sales reps who work to keep physicians, hospitals,
HMOs, and other medical institutions abreast of—
and partial toward—their company’s drugs.
Points of Entry into Pharma
The pharmaceutical industry favors candidates who have
science degrees. But, those with non-science degrees
will find corporate, sales, and marketing positions open
to them, too. Here are typical points of entry into the
industry based on a candidate’s education or professional
experience.
• Those with MS degrees and some lab experience can
enter the field as research associates; those with a BS
or BA can land jobs as pharmaceutical field sales reps,
especially if they already have some sales experience.
• MBAs can find a variety of jobs in finance and
marketing; jobs in business development are harder
to come by without industry experience.
• PhDs who’ve completed their postdoctoral studies
usually enter the industry as associate scientists.
• Many types of engineers—chemical, electrical, indus-
trial, packaging, and mechanical—can find ample
opportunities in manufacturing, process develop-
ment, and quality assurance.
• Registered nurses and other medical professionals can
find opportunities as clinical research associates, and
pharmacists can apply their experience in marketing
and publications divisions.
• MDs oversee drug development programs and drug
safety divisions. Most doctors tapped for such duties
have significant clinical and research experience and
solid professional reputations.
Major Pluses
• You work for a company whose products can improve
or save lives, and possibly eradicate terrible diseases.
• Those who seek a job with a lot of structure often can
find it in pharmaceutical firms.
• For scientists, the industry offers an alternative to the
low pay of academia; for MBAs, it requires fewer
hours than consulting or banking.
Major Minuses
• Though your work can help save lives, the bottom line
almost always comes first.
• With the specter of consolidation always on the hori-
zon, the pharmaceutical industry no longer offers
ironclad job security. The industry has also been
rocked by several controversies.
• Very few potential drugs make it from conception to
market.
Recruiting Overview
A 2010 Labor Department survey predicted that the
number of pharma manufacturing jobs will increase
6 percent through 2018, compared with 11 percent for
all industries combined. Here are some tips to help you
get a jump on those statistics:
• The more technical your skills, the better. However,
don’t overlook the need to show that you’re well-
rounded and have strong communications skills.
• The best way to get the attention of recruiters is to
know someone on the inside. Get out there and net-
work. A good place to start—in addition to family
and friends—is your school’s alumni association. Try
INSIDEr SCOOP
“There are plenty of openings for MDs in the
industry; the biggest step is usually deciding to give
up clinical practice. For people who have made this
decision, networking is usually the most effective
means of landing a job.”

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to find people who work in the industry and may be
able to make valuable referrals.
• If you don’t have experience, consider starting with
a job in one of the larger companies, which tend to
be good training grounds. Your chances of landing
a position are also better at a bigger organization. In
2008, pharma and medicine manufacturing firms
with more than 100 workers represented approxi-
mately 87 percent of the industry’s employment,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Employ a global outlook. As with many other
industries, fluency in an additional language or
simply a committed multicultural outlook can only
help you in today’s global pharmaceutical market-
place. Although this is certainly the case for market-
ers tasked with selling their medicines to physician
and patient segments worldwide, today’s trend
toward global drug trials means that even those
in the clinical realm will have better job prospects
if they demonstrate they can manage study sites,
investigators, and patient bases in other countries.
Undergrads
Companies in this industry offer attractive co-op
assignments and summer internships for science and
business students. They also offer numerous entry-level
research, analytical, sales, and finance positions that
frequently require only a bachelor’s degree. Try net-
working through your school’s alumni association and
visit the websites of companies to read more about how
to apply for specific positions.
MBAs
Most Big Pharma companies recruit for the all-impor-
tant summer internship at a few core schools, and espe-
cially at MBA programs in the Northeast; contact your
career center to find out who recruits at your program.
To bolster your job-seeking efforts, work hard to find a
personal connection on the inside.
PhDs
A lot of recruiting goes on via networking within pro-
fessional organizations, at industry conferences, and
through postings in scientific journals. Talk to your
professors to find out if they know people in the indus-
try with whom you might schedule an informational
interview.
MDs
Headhunters play a significant role in recruiting MDs.
A number of search firms have practices—sometimes
run by doctors—that focus on recruiting physicians.
Don’t hesitate to contact the human resources depart-
ment of any company that interests you.

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TheIndustry
2
Overview........................................8
Anatomy of a Big
Pharma Company..........................9
The Drug
Development Cycle:
How Big Pharma Works...............10
Top Therapeutic Classes...............13
Industry Trends...........................14
Hiring Outlook............................19
The Bottom Line..........................19

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Overview
› Pharmaceutical companies make medi-
cines from plant- and chemical-based compounds.
Insiders refer to the handful of multinational giants
that dominate the industry as Big Pharma. Although
many of these firms also produce animal health prod-
ucts, livestock feed supplements, vitamins, and a host
of other goods, this guide will focus solely on their drug
products used to treat human illness.
The majority of Big Pharma companies are head-
quartered in the U.S., but several are based in Western
Europe—specifically the United Kingdom, Switzerland,
Germany, and France. Most pharma companies head-
quartered in the U.S. are located east of the Mississippi,
with the greatest concentration in New Jersey.
Depending on their size and strategy, pharma com-
panies may conduct extensive research in-house or they
may seek to license promising drugs from academia,
other pharma firms, or biotechnology companies. The
latter firms are generally smaller than their Big Pharma
competitors, and they employ cellular and biomolecular
processes to make medicines or diagnose illness.
Growth at a Price
Big Pharma is one of the world’s most profitable indus-
tries. During the past 30 years, the industry has spent
billions of dollars on research and has reaped billions
in return. In 2010, the pharmaceutical industry intro-
duced 44 major drugs and sold $850 billion in prod-
ucts worldwide—a 4 to 5 percent increase from 2009
sales, according to the drug market research firm IMS
Health.
But the process that turns research dollars into
medicines that can help patients is a slow and often
heartbreaking one. It takes an average of 15 years and
$1.8 billion to nurture a drug from initial discov-
ery through approval from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration. Despite the billions of dollars com-
panies spend annually on drug development, the
FDA approves only a handful of drugs each year.
Nevertheless, the prize is great enough that pharmaceu-
tical companies are willing to stake their R&D dollars
on a new drug becoming a so-called blockbuster: one
that exceeds $1 billion in annual sales.
The arduous drug approval process reveals a central
fact about Big Pharma: It is one of the most intensely
regulated industries in the world. The FDA and its
European Union counterpart, the European Medicines
Agency (EMA), govern every aspect of a drug’s devel-
opment. The regulatory bodies review and approve
companies’ detailed clinical study instructions, called
protocols, as well as drugs’ chemical compositions and
manufacturing methods. They stipulate how data must
be collected and conveyed, and they examine packag-
ing components and marketing pieces before they will
approve a drug for marketing. The strict oversight is
meant to protect patients, and pharma companies take
regulatory oversight seriously. The constant pressure to
adhere to government mandates shapes every aspect of
a pharma firm’s organization, operations, and culture.
For example, drug companies maintain powerful regu-
latory affairs divisions—the departments that deal with
government agencies—and they tend to be risk-averse.
A Cornucopia of Career Options
Pharmaceutical companies employ people from the
ranks of many professions to perform a host of jobs.
Here are just some of the professionals who play instru-
mental roles in drug discovery and drug delivery pro-
cesses:
• Scientists with undergraduate degrees, master’s
degrees, and PhDs engage in drug research and
development. They design and monitor quality
assurance and control operations to ensure products
meet federal safety standards.
• Engineers from a variety of disciplines develop drug
manufacturing processes and facilitate drug develop-
ment by creating automated research techniques.
• Physicians design scientifically rigorous clinical tri-
als to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of drugs
under development.
• Software developers build information systems that

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model molecular structures and they design massive
databases that enable researchers to capture and ana-
lyze the results of experiments and drug trials.
• Salespeople persuade doctors and other medical
professionals, managed care organizations, and gov-
ernment agencies to give their companies’ products
preferential treatment.
MBAs also have plenty of opportunities in the phar-
maceutical industry. Those working in finance track
the movement of the vast sums of money that are bor-
rowed, made, and spent within a company and around
the industry. Others create and execute marketing plans
for established and fledgling drugs. In business devel-
opment, MBAs compete for the rights to ideas and
technologies that might give their firms an edge in the
race for the industry’s holy grail: an FDA-approvable,
marketable compound that gives patients relief without
unpleasant side effects.
This discussion may foster the impression that jobs
in Big Pharma are reserved for those with advanced
scientific degrees. Big Pharma is the domain of brainy
people, and the industry rewards those who have
advanced degrees in any number of disciplines. On
the other hand, there are many entry-level opportuni-
ties for those with undergraduate degrees in science or
business. But keep this in mind: Continuing education
is required for advancement in Big Pharma regardless
of your degree upon entering the industry. So even if
you’re starting out with a PhD, count on attending
scientific symposia and participating in professional
associations to maintain a viable career. What’s more,
Big Pharma is noteworthy for encouraging employees
to earn dual degrees in business and science. Because
of the complexity of the field, pharmaceutical manag-
ers and executives most often come from the ranks of
science professionals who earn MBAs after building an
industry track record.
Anatomy of a Big
Pharma Company
› Pharma firms typically are complex, hierar-
chical organizations with plenty of matrixed reporting
relationships. Those that operate on a global scale—and
that’s just about all of them—don’t usually duplicate all
of their operating divisions in every country where they
do business. At a minimum, there may be a sales and
marketing office in each territory outside the country in
which the firm maintains its global headquarters.
In terms of structuring their core operations, phar-
maceutical firms tend to organize R&D, sales, and
marketing professionals into teams, each of which is
focused on a single therapeutic category of drugs, a
topic we’ll cover a bit later. From a functional point
of view, here are the operations that take place in most
pharmaceutical companies:
• Discovery is science in action. This arduous but
inspiring process involves the work of chemists,
biologists, physicians, and even computer scientists
in their quest to identify promising new compounds
from a variety of sources. Only 1 in 10,000 can-
didate drugs identified during discovery make it
through the product development pipeline.
• Development ushers new compounds—often called
clinical candidates—through the lengthy process of
testing in animals and humans. A drug development
team oversees clinical trials at independent medical
institutions and collects data on safety and effec-
tiveness. The company then submits this data with
the application to secure FDA approval to market
a drug.
• Pharmaceutical operations comprise all the activi-
ties that are undertaken to manufacture drugs and
INSIDEr SCOOP
“There is too much functional segregation. Smart
people can succeed anywhere and should get to
rotate around more in the company.”

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pharma, it frequently also includes strategic plan-
ning and business development.
• Human resources help pharmaceutical companies
hire a diverse assortment of professionals, and hir-
ing is typically national or international in scope.
As a result, Big Pharma firms have large and elabo-
rate human resources departments. As in other
industries, the HR function governs recruiting,
compensation, benefits, training and develop-
ment, conflict resolution, and diversity initiatives.
Because pharma companies tend to invest heavily
in professional training and continuing educa-
tion, staff development often is a special area of
emphasis.
The Drug
Development
Cycle: How Big
Pharma Works
› Drug development follows a predictable
process; understanding that process reveals how Big
Pharma works. With that in mind, we offer this ficti-
tious saga of Gitajob® (generic name: initiativudine),
a promising new agent from Damptoz, the large phar-
maceutical arm of the diversified global powerhouse
WetFeet Worldwide.
2007
Damptoz R&D isolates a compound that appears to
hold promise for treatment of slackerosis, a psychiat-
ric syndrome found most commonly in young adults
and characterized by depression and heightened lev-
els of cynicism. Because no slackerosis treatment is on
the market, Damptoz decides to explore its viability as
a potential drug. Scientists begin to explore the com-
pound and conduct animal testing to study its safety
and effectiveness. At this point in its life cycle, Gitajob
hasn’t been assigned a go-to-market name; it’s known
to ensure they comply with federal or international
regulations. Divisions of this function include man-
ufacturing, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, sup-
ply chain management, facilities engineering, and
environment health and safety.
• Drug safety operations involves the work of physi-
cians, nurses, scientists with PhDs, pharmacists, and
statisticians who collect, aggregate, and interpret
safety data from clinical trials and from patient and
physician feedback about existing products. Drug
safety staffs work closely with R&D and regulatory
affairs experts to report their findings to government
agencies.
• Sales and marketing develops strategies to promote
drugs through the company’s field sales network or
by using advertising and other channels to reach
customers. This operational division involves mar-
ket research and other analytical functions well-
suited to MBAs.
• Medical affairs involves the activities of medi-
cal service liaisons (MSLs), a cadre of field-based
MDs, PhDs, and PharmDs who act as emissaries
between the company and opinion makers in the
medical community (physicians, researchers at
medical schools, and government health agency
officials, for example). MSLs are not concerned
with short-term marketing goals, which is why this
function usually is not part of marketing. Instead,
they cultivate peer relationships within the medi-
cal community so the company can understand
and influence the direction of medical research
and practice. In short, MSLs help a pharmaceuti-
cal company position itself strategically so that its
long-term drug development plans are in sync with
trends in the practice of medicine. As a side func-
tion, medical affairs also coordinates medical edu-
cation opportunities for health-care professionals
and patient groups.
• Finance is another broad function. This divi-
sion handles all the company’s accounting activi-
ties, financial reporting, and investor relations. In

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solely by its internal control number, DTZ-2104.
Animal test results are mixed: rats and mice
become more focused on assigned tasks in their cages,
but other animal data are inconclusive. Despite mis-
givings about DTZ-2104’s ultimate prospects as a suc-
cessful drug, Damptoz continues to move it through
the product pipeline. Staff chemists and chemical
engineers evaluate various ways to get the compound
into a deliverable form (in this case, how to turn it
into a pill) that can be manufactured cheaply. Other
engineers begin to figure out the best chemical meth-
ods for mass-producing it.
2011
The regulatory affairs department submits an investi-
gational new drug (IND) application to the FDA to
indicate the imminent start of human clinical trials.
Because the IND makes the compound public informa-
tion, WetFeet Worldwide registers a patent. All patents
on a compound last for 20 years, during which time the
patent holder has exclusive rights to all of its commer-
cial applications.
2012
Clinical trials commence. During the course of sev-
eral years, they progress from Phase I, in which fewer
than 100 people are enrolled and safety is the primary
focus, to Phase II, in which a few hundred people
participate and effectiveness joins safety in the com-
pany’s evaluation of DTZ-2104. Phase III usually
requires at least two large placebo-controlled, double-
blind studies (some patients get the drug, others get a
sugar pill identical in appearance, and neither doctor
nor patient knows whether the drug or the placebo is
being given). Phase III is done to ensure the drug has
a greater clinical benefit than the placebo. The Phase
III work ultimately involves 1,300 patients on three
continents, and these people are selected at random to
be drug patients or placebo patients. Because of harm-
ful side effects or lack of effectiveness, 19 in 20 drugs
under development don’t make it past clinical trials.
2020
The compound makes it through Phase III! Damptoz’s
regulatory affairs department submits a new drug appli-
cation (NDA) to the FDA. The application is 40,000
pages, a bit shorter than average. Several of the super-
visors in regulatory affairs are taking a gamble that
the FDA will make good on its promise to require
less paperwork when processing NDAs. If the gamble
fails and the drug gets labeled nonapprovable, a sub-
sequent NDA will cost Damptoz millions of dollars in
the short term and, based on time lost on the product’s
patent life, probably tens of millions in the long term.
If another manufacturer has a competing drug that is
also close to approval, the losses could be substantially
higher.
After much agonizing and countless quantitative
marketing studies, the sales and marketing departments
set the pricing for Gitajob and construct a marketing
strategy. This includes deciding which direct-to-con-
sumer (DTC) and/or professional channels to use for
advertising, designing visual aids for salespeople to use
when they detail (sell to physicians), and presenting the
drug at professional conferences. The marketing divi-
sion of Damptoz has been conducting elaborate mar-
ket research for three years, identifying the physician
specialties most likely to prescribe it, as well as when:
first-line, before a patient has tried any drug treatment
for slackerosis, or second-line, after a conventional
antidepressant shows no benefit after three months of
use. The marketing team interviews hundreds of likely

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patients, asking them if they would consider a drug for
their condition and how much they would be willing
to pay for it out-of-pocket and via a prescription plan.
The marketing folks also need to find out how best to
address Gitajob’s unusual primary side effect, which is
urine discoloration in 30 percent of patients. Moreover,
a small number (3 to 6 percent) of asthmatics reported
seizures while taking Gitajob. Are the apparent benefits
of the drug a fair tradeoff for its risks?
The pressure to maximize revenue is huge because
all of the hundreds of failed drugs that don’t make it
through development have to be financed by block-
buster drugs. Chemical, mechanical, industrial, and
process engineers in manufacturing have moved into
high gear to get the compound into production in
Damptoz factories worldwide. The Asian market,
notably Korea and Japan, is clamoring for the drug
to be sold there, but tariff complications have slowed
the approval process and the Japanese government is
threatening to omit the drug unless Damptoz cuts
its wholesale price by 23 percent. Can Damptoz reps
detail the drug to doctors anyway? And if it’s officially
illegal to do so, how steep are the penalties?
2021
The FDA approves the compound for prescription
use to treat slackerosis in teenagers, but not adults
because a handful of fraudulent patient records were
uncovered by FDA audits of adult patient charts at
two study centers. As a result, Damptoz can promote
Gitajob (its brand name is now in use) only as a treat-
ment for teens; any attempts to portray it as useful in
adults will be much frowned upon by the FDA. (Even
though the fraudulent charts numbered only 4 of a
sampled 52 in a study in which total patients enrolled
was in excess of 1,300, all of the study data are now
suspect and the burden of proving its legitimacy
belongs to Damptoz.)
2031
Gitajob, though not the blockbuster Damptoz had
hoped for, has racked up billions of dollars in sales. It’s
a good thing, too, because the patent expires this year,
which means that a number of generic drug compa-
nies will put out their own formulations of the drug
(Damptoz gets permanent rights to the original brand
name). Demand for Gitajob will drop precipitously;
the generics, which are chemically identical to the
branded agent, sell for 70 percent less than Gitajob.
But Damptoz still has a few tricks up its sleeve. The
company has already begun to market and patent a
new, extended-release version of the drug, which will
be sold under the name Gitajob XR. While standard
Gitajob must be taken every eight waking hours,
Gitajob XR needs to be taken only once daily. In addi-
tion, the company has submitted applications to the
FDA to convert the drug from prescription to over-the-
counter status. If the application is granted, Damptoz
will be able to ply Gitajob on drugstore shelves nation-
wide and capitalize on its brand recognition.

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Top Therapeutic
Classes
› The pharmaceutical industry makes
thousands of drugs, with annual sales often relied on to
indicate the top performing therapy classes. However,
it may be more helpful to know which are showing
increased sales, which are plateauing, and which have
Fastest Growing Therapy Classes by Average Sales Growth, 2005–2009
Therapy Class 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
2005–2009
Average
Growth (%)
Autoimmune agents 18.0 19.3 17.4 21.6 32.0 21.66
Oncologics 8.8 13.4 15.8 21.6 19.2 15.76
Angiotensin II receptor
antagonists
11.5 13.3 14.0 15.2 18.3 14.46
Respiratory agents 11.0 5.9 11.9 11.4 13.8 10.8
HIV antivirals 14.9 12.7 12.8 10.9 11.4 12.54
Antidiabetics 13.4 10.1 10.8 12.7 12.6 11.92
Antipsychotics 4.6 7.7 11.4 11.7 11.0 11.28
Platelet aggr. inhibitors 9.0 10.4 8.7 8.1 10.1 9.26
Narcotic analgesics 8.6 8.9 12.9 –1.1 3.1 6.48
Non-narcotic analgesics 7.3 4.1 7.9 3.1 6.7 5.82
Antiepileptics –19.8 9.8 13.7 11.3 1.3 3.26
Lipid regulators 4.9 –1.2 –5.8 7.9 6.9 2.54
Antiulcerants 0.6 0.0 2.6 3.0 4.2 2.08
Antidepressants –1.3 1.1 –6.2 3.6 –3.6 –1.28
Erythropoietins –4.1 –13.2 –8.3 12.0 7.2 –1.28
Source: Pharma Exec News
dropped. For instance, although lipid regulators are one
of the five largest drug classes by sales, their growth is
not as impressive as the class of autoimmune agents,
which has averaged nearly 18 percent annual growth.

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These rates may be of particular interest in the evolv-
ing pharma landscape, where specialist-driven products
such as oncologics and autoimmune agents (drugs
that treat immune system dysfunctions) are drawing
greater attention among industry executives (see more
in “Industry Trends”).
Industry Trends
› Pharma has been among the world’s most profit-
able industries. In 2008, for example, companies listed
in Standard & Poor’s Pharmaceuticals Index posted a
15.9 percent average return on sales compared to a return
of 4.5 percent for S&P’s Industrials Index as a whole.
Global demographic trends suggest healthy returns
will continue. The average life expectancy, for instance,
is lengthening worldwide, and chronic diseases are on
the rise. Combined with the aging populations of the
largest markets, these trends bode well for pharma
because the elderly as a group represent about one third
of prescription-drug consumption.
Pharma welcomes these forecasts because, despite
enviable returns, the industry’s profitability has fallen in
recent years. (As a contrast to its return on investment
in 2008, the return for the S&P Pharmaceuticals Index
was 18.7 percent six years earlier.) There are a number
of reasons for the decrease, but certainly the recent
global recession has played a part. As financial markets
tumbled, unemployment skyrocketed, resulting in large
numbers of workers losing medical insurance coverage.
Analysts also identified rising health-care costs as a con-
tributing factor in the decline of visits to doctors offices
(down 4.2 percent in 2010) as well as in the slowdown
in newly initiated chronic drug therapy regimens.
Pharma has come back from such slides in the past,
usually through the introduction of premium-priced
breakthrough therapies that have created or expanded
new markets. Our rundown of ways the industry is
responding to changes in the fiscal and regulatory envi-
ronments indicates pharma is once again adapting its
approaches in an effort to maintain top market share.
Falling Off the Patent Cliff
and into a Sea of Generic Drugs
Pharmaceuticals executives today stand at the preci-
pice of the patent cliff, the term the industry uses to
describe the high number of patent expirations on
top-performing brand medications. Pharma edged
close to the cliff in 2009 and 2010, when more than
$32 billion of branded products’ market share became
vulnerable to new generic competitors that could
capitalize on patent expirations during the two-year
period. The industry was expected to fall from the cliff
in 2011–2012, when no less than six of the world’s
ten highest selling drugs—Pfizer’s Lipitor and Bristol-
Myers Squibb/Sanofi’s Plavix among them—lose pat-
ent protection. Although revenue comparisons are
expected to improve after 2012, continued patent
expirations may jeopardize as much as $250 billion in
sales by 2015.
The patent cliff hasn’t frightened everyone.
Manufacturers of generic drugs have been thrilled
by the phenomenon. According to IMS Health,
Inc., a market-research firm specializing in pharma-
ceuticals, makers of generic drugs produce alterna-
tives that replace more than 80 percent of a branded
product’s volume within six months of that product’s
patent loss, forcing drug prices to drop by nearly 85
percent. With so many of the industry’s top selling
branded medications losing patent protection in
recent years and with more expirations promised in
the near future, IMS expects revenue for the global
generic drug sector to increase at double-digit
rates during the next few years from 2009’s base of
$83 billion. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.,
the largest of the global generics companies, projects
the expansion will reach between $135 billion and
$150 billion by 2015.
Even after the patent cliff sales boom tapers
off, makers of generic drugs can look forward to
boosted revenues because of the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act passed in 2010 in the United
States, the world’s largest pharmaceuticals market.

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Signed into law by President Barack Obama, the
federal legislation is meant to lower health-care costs
and extend coverage to the approximately 31 mil-
lion Americans without it. The expanded coverage,
which Americans can expect to begin enjoying in
2014, will significantly widen pharma’s end-user base.
With managed care and governmental health entities
expressing near unanimous support of generic drug
use, manufacturers of generic drugs couldn’t be more
pleased. Already, 78 percent of prescriptions written
by physicians in the United States in 2009 were for
generic drugs, a 21 percent spike from 2004, reports
IMS. The uptick represents significant cost savings for
the U.S. health-care system; in 2009, generics saved
the country almost $140 billion, according to the
Generic Pharmaceutical Association. It’s no surprise,
then, that managed care and government health orga-
nizations promote generic drug use so fervently.
Top 10 Drugs in 2010 by Sales
Drug Manufacturer Total Sales ($M) 1-year % Change
Nexium AstraZeneca 5,276,153 4.9
Lipitor Pfizer 5,272,576 –2.3
Plavix Bristol-Myers Squibb 4,675,483 10.2
Advair Diskus GlaxoSmithKline 3,655,206 –1.0
Oxycontin Purdue Pharma LP 3,554,751 13.1
Abilify Bristol-Myers Squibb 3,514,265 12.7
Singulair Merck & Co., Inc. 3,324,909 8.9
Seroquel AstraZeneca 3,222,055 2.4
Crestor AstraZeneca 2,922,687 27.0
Cymbalta Eli Lilly & Co. 2,638,536 7.6
Source: Drugs.com

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Major Potential Patent Expirations of 2012 by 2009 U.S. Sales
Brand Name Manufacturer Indication 2009 Sales ($M)
Seroquel AstraZeneca
Schizophrenia, Bipolar
disorder
3,482
Singulaire Merck Asthma, Allergic rhinitis 3,465
Actos Takeda Type 2 diabetes 2,782
Lexapro Forest Depression 2,554
Levaquin Ortho-McNeil Bacterial infections 1,632
Diovan Novartis Hypertension, CHF 1,469
Diovan HCT Novartis Hypertension 1,376
TriCor Abbott Laboratories High triglycerides 1,350
Lidoderm Teikoku Pharma USA Postherpetic neuralgia 1,064
Viagra Pfizer Erectile dysfunction 1,000
Geodon Pfizer Schizophrenia 975
Provigil Cephalon
Narcolepsy, idiopathic
hypersomnolence
966
Lunesta Sepracor Insomnia 804
Avandia GlaxoSmithKline Type 2 diabetes 436
Avapro Sanofi-Aventis Hypertension 413
Avalide Sanofi-Aventis Hypertension 359
Avandamet GlaxoSmithKline Type 2 diabetes 207
Clarinex Schering-Plough Allergic rhinitis 207
Altacand AstraZeneca Hypertension, CHF 162
Source: Standard & Poor’s

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If You Can’t Beat ’Em, Join ’Em
With $30 billion worth of drugs primed for generic
competition in 2011 (the United States accounts for
$17 billion), makers of generic drugs competed among
themselves to establish market advantage, affording
branded drug companies time to develop ideas for
recouping losses—such as the old stratagem, “If you
can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” Since 2009, mergers and
acquisitions among manufacturers of generic drugs
have moved at a fast clip; S&P maintains the accel-
erated rate will remain consistent in the years ahead.
This activity has resulted in part from generics’ desire
to quicken their globalization while sidestepping slow-
downs in individual markets. Like their branded coun-
terparts, generics also have wanted to expand their sales
base and achieve higher returns on investment through
cost economies and operating synergies.
Teva, for example, acquired Ratiopharm, the sec-
ond largest maker of generics in Germany, in 2010 for
$5 billion. The company outbid Pfizer and Actavis, a
generics outfit based in Switzerland, in an auction for
the acquisition. Teva’s success gives it a higher profile
in the European generics market, which some analysts
believe will grow more quickly than the U.S. market
during the next five years.
Big Pharma also has tried to control the generics
segment by developing branded generics. These brand-
name versions of original products sell at higher prices
than their no-name generic cousins but are less expen-
sive than true branded products. The approach isn’t
meant for the U.S. market, where consumers tend to
view makers of generics as interchangeable. In addition,
chain pharmacies, where Americans are increasingly
purchasing their medications, typically decide which
generics they’ll sell based on the lowest available prices.
Branded generics are instead a product line traditional
brand-name drugmakers are pursuing in emerging mar-
kets such as Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America,
where medications are usually out-of-pocket expenses
for consumers who, often unable to pay for expen-
sive brand-name drugs, fear purchasing counterfeit or
low-quality versions. Branded generics, which display
trusted local or overseas manufacturers on their pack-
aging, alleviate these fears by conveying authenticity
and quality control. However, as government health
coverage and private insurance become more common
in emerging markets, consumers may be encouraged or
required to purchase low-cost generics instead of mid-
priced branded generics. However, analysts at Sanford
C. Bernstein & Company have said it will be at least ten
years before that comes to pass.
The Pharmerging Countries
Forecasts for pharmaceutical sales in 2011 for developed
nations versus the 17 countries that comprise what IMS
has dubbed the pharmerging markets—Brazil, Russia,
India, and China among them—showed a wide gap.
Developed nations indicated flat to low growth at
3 to 5 percent, and predicted growth for emerging mar-
kets stood at 15 to 17 percent. Sales in China alone
were expected to advance 25 to 27 percent for 2011,
and pharmerging markets are expected to account for
48 percent of total global pharmaceutical growth in
2013, a 12 percent gain from 2009.
Numerous factors—weakening economies, sover-
eign debt issues, patent loss, mounting pressure around
drug pricing, slowing demographic trends—have
affected growth among established nations. In contrast,
developing nations are experiencing remarkable booms
in population growth as well as gross domestic product.
Rising levels of disposable income also are allowing citi-
zens to purchase goods and services previously unavail-
able to them; however, for many in the developing
world, affordable health care remains far out of reach.
Such good fortune has its ills as well. As develop-
ing countries begin to enjoy some of the advantages of
the most developed nations, their populations start to
TIP>
To be prepared for your interviews,
understand what’s happening in global
as well as local markets.

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adopt behaviors (such as smoking, increased alcohol
intake, overeating) that lead to poor health. Illnesses
that aﬄict developed nations—diabetes, cancer, heart
disease—become more common, leading to higher
rates of pharmaceutical consumption.
While these changes augur good news for the
industry, the approach Big Pharma has taken in the
past—create the drugs in the West and then push them
in the East—may need rethinking in this new climate.
For instance, pharmerging economies are showing
significant price pressures that suggest an opening for
branded generics. In addition, products created in the
West are not always relevant in emerging markets.
Virally induced cancers, for example, are far more com-
mon in China than they are in Europe. And, insurance
and payment systems in these countries differ markedly
from those in the West.
Regardless, many drug manufacturers have begun
cultivating inroads within pharmerging markets, with
European companies showing better representation
probably because of their earlier entry and of the histor-
ical ties binding Europe to developing Asian countries.
EsPEcially for you: thE risE
of PErsonaliZED mEDicinE
Developments in genomics (the study of genes and
their functions) allow doctors to diagnose patients more
precisely; in turn, drug companies have the ability to
tailor medicines according to patients’ genetic makeup.
In fact, in some cases, drugs that proved ineffective dur-
ing normal clinical trials could be useful as targeted
therapies for certain patients. Welcome to the dawn of
personalized medicine.
This new era is prompting greater collabora-
tion between manufacturers who, facing the patent
cliff, are all too aware of revenue loss in the billions
as well as the increasing criticism from government
and private health systems regarding rising costs. By
partnering with other drug companies, manufactur-
ers can share exponential R&D budgets and the risks
and gains of developing medicines. A recent batch of
medicines treating a range of diseases from cancer to
hepatitis C almost demands such relationships—some
drugs only work in tandem with specific medications
or are believed to perform better when combined with
other drugs.
Related to the rise in personalized medicine is
greater interest among companies in the development
of orphan drugs: medication that treats diseases affect-
ing smaller numbers of patients than can cover the
costs of development and distribution. In an effort
to assist manufacturers, the FDA’s Office of Orphan
Products Development recently launched the Rare
Disease Repurposing Database, which allows compa-
nies to search for two types of drugs: those that are
already considered orphan drugs, having been sub-
jected to pharmacokinetic and toxicologic testing, and
as those that have received FDA approval for certain
therapies. The FDA has expressed hope the database
will minimize the trial and error that plagues discovery.
The relationships these developments encourage
have not been frictionless. When Eli Lilly announced
its partnership with privately held Boehringer
Ingelheim in 2011 for a diabetes treatment, Amylin
Pharmaceuticals took offense, claiming the team would
create a rival drug for a therapy Lilly and Amylin
already sell. Amylin sued, but such lawsuits may be
the byproduct of this new era. GlaxoSmithKline CEO
Andrew Witty, during his firm’s yearly meeting in May

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2011, said, “Almost everybody we are working with is
either suing us or we are suing them. However, if we
refused to work with people who sued us, we would not
have any friends at all.”
Biotech Boom
With the threat of the patent cliff encouraging vigor-
ous exploration of improved pipelines, pharma has
turned to biotechnology as a potential avenue for new
products that will offset patent loss and push future
growth. Slashed R&D budgets across the industry also
have played a role as pharma eagerly seeks companies
that are far enough along in product development to
allow manufacturers to move the product to market
quickly.
Smaller biotech operations receiving second glances
from global Big Pharma and from midcap biotech
firms looking to acquire their fledgling brethren are,
for the most part, grateful for the attention. The recent
worldwide financial crisis has nearly crushed the IPO
market, and small biotech outfits have struggled to
secure investor support. The intense interest from
drugmakers hoping to invigorate their pipeline has
been a relief to biotech startups, with entrepreneurs
acknowledging that taking a product all the way
to market is no longer standard business practice.
Recent mergers and acquisitions that have made news
include the 2011 Japanese takeover of California-
based Plexxikon by Daiichi Sankyo for approximately
$935 million and Kyowa Hakko’s purchase of
ProStrakan for $475 million in the same year.
Hiring Outlook
› Although the pharmaceutical market
is expanding on a worldwide basis, R&D costs are
rising even faster. Something has got to give in the
industry machine, and sales positions seem to be the
first target of cost-cutting efforts. The industry’s sales
force in the United States dropped about 20 percent
in 2010, down from a high of 105,000 professionals in
2005, according to S&P estimates. The current figure
is expected to fall to 70,000 people by 2015, predicts
ZS Associates, a sales-strategy consulting firm.
The cuts are a result of the bloated number of
U.S. pharma sales reps, which tripled in the most
recent decade, but the number of physicians to
whom they could sell increased only slightly. In addi-
tion, as the product pipeline continues to generate
more specialty products and fewer mainstream drugs,
Big Pharma is likely to shift its sales focus from pri-
mary care physicians to the even smaller number
of specialist doctors, such as oncologists, who write
the prescriptions for specialty therapies. Thus, as
specialty selling increases, reps who have science
degrees are likely to be in high demand.
Those on the science side may also find that,
although jobs are available, competition is fiercer. With
applications exceeding demand, pharma firms favor
candidates who have internship experience, advanced
or specialized degrees, and proven communications
and leadership skills. Although you don’t need a
graduate degree to land a job, it will certainly give you
greater flexibility in the job market.
Outsourcing functions such as manufacturing,
clinical trial management, and even R&D will likely
remain a trend in pharma. Although experts disagree
as to how much outsourcing will grow, most of our
insiders say Big Pharma companies will be forced to
focus on their core competencies and outsource many
other functions.
Interactive marketing and direct-to-patient educa-
tion via the Internet and other technologies also will
continue to be an industry trend. Consequently, those
with digital marketing experience are likely to find
more opportunities in Big Pharma.
The Bottom Line
› Big Pharma is still among the most profit-
able industries in the U.S., and the job market is
healthy. People with scientific backgrounds are in

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demand, particularly those who combine scientific
training with managerial ability. Folks with BS or
MS degrees in chemistry, molecular biology, bio-
chemistry, and computer science can find absorb-
ing careers. However, a PhD is generally required
if you want to advance beyond the level of research
associate. Nonscience undergrads can get a foot in
the door through pharma sales and through intern-
ships or co-op programs in business-oriented areas
of the company. MBAs who forgo consulting and
investment banking careers will find a more palat-
able work/life balance along with good pay and some
of the best benefits packages around. And MDs can
find well-paying, engaging work that offers regular
hours and is free of the tedious and tiresome details
of managed care.
Above all, those who choose to work in this indus-
try enjoy the satisfaction of knowing they are laboring
to produce drugs that could make a radical difference
in the lives of thousands—even millions—of people.

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OntheJob
3
Research Jobs...............................24
Clinical Development
and Medical Jobs..........................24
Manufacturing and
Quality Assurance Jobs................26
Business Operations Jobs.............27
Sales Jobs......................................28
Real People Profiles......................29

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Research Jobs
› Research positions deal with the process of
drug discovery and testing. The entry-level job title in
most pharmaceutical companies is lab technician. The
work can be somewhat tedious, but a lab tech position
can be an excellent way into the industry.
If you have a BS or MS degree in biochemistry or a
related discipline and have previous lab experience in
school or in industry, you can generally find work as a
research associate. Research associates do real science,
conducting experiments and analyzing data under the
close supervision of more senior scientists. Research
associates often have a number after their title, such as
research associate II, to indicate seniority level. Above
the research associate is the research specialist (this
title is sometimes called pharmaceuticals specialist,
among other things), who generally has more auton-
omy and creative input into his or her research than
the associate does.
PhDs who have completed their postdocs typically
enter as associate scientists (also known as research sci-
entists). In rare instances, research specialists (without
PhDs) are promoted to this level. Associate scientists
have considerable autonomy over their own research,
though they collaborate fairly closely with a super-
visor. The step after associate scientist is scientist, a
position that involves running the lab and planning
and executing large-scale research projects. Above the
scientist is the senior scientist, who oversees the work
of several scientists but no longer works in the lab.
Scientists at all levels have the option of leaving
the research track for the management track. Insiders
say that for employees who don’t have PhDs and don’t
intend to go back to school to get one, the manage-
ment track holds many more opportunities for pro-
motion than the non-PhD research track.
Salary ranges in this section and subsequent sec-
tions were collected from Salary.com.
Lab Technician
Lab techs perform the routine maintenance tasks—
cleaning and maintaining glassware, working with
animal colonies, operating lab equipment, and so on—
that are needed to keep labs functioning. Only a high
school diploma is required, though many people with
college degrees start here as well.
Salary range: $27,000 to $40,000
Research Associate
A BS or MS in biochemistry or a related discipline and
experience working in a lab are typically required to
land this job. Associates conduct experiments under
the guidance of PhD scientists. If you’re coming out of
school with some lab experience but no PhD and you
want to work in R&D, this is the job for you.
Research Scientist
After receiving a PhD and completing a postdoc, a sci-
entist can get a job as a research scientist (sometimes
the initial title is associate scientist), designing and con-
ducting experiments and writing up results for publica-
tion when appropriate.
Salary range: $65,000 to $110,000
Clinical
Development
and Medical Jobs
› A variety of medical and scientific specialists at
pharma companies perform the numerous stud-
ies required to take clinical compounds from the
lab bench to the pharmacy shelf. Physicians with
director or VP titles head up a pharma company’s
therapeutic divisions and are responsible for ensur-
ing drug safety and for keeping development pro-
grams on track. Medical doctors and sometimes
PhDs or PharmDs are responsible for drawing up

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a particular product’s overall clinical development
plan, which is a strategic and tactical document
that lays out the studies a company intends to
perform before it applies for marketing approval.
They also write or contribute to clinical trial pro-
tocols, the instructions for an investigator describ-
ing the objectives, design, and methodology of a
clinical trial.
Once the plans are approved by regulatory
authorities, clinical research associates (CRAs) take
over the nitty-gritty of working with investiga-
tors to conduct clinical trials. Depending on the
research objectives, these trials may be confined to
a small patient group at a single site, or they may
involve thousands of patients at hundreds of sites
worldwide. Typically registered nurses, CRAs get
involved early on by helping to write study pro-
tocols. As a clinical trial proceeds, they meet with
investigators and their staff to ensure the study pro-
tocol is being followed, and they also monitor the
collection of patient data.
One thing to note: Many pharmaceutical com-
panies outsource the conduct of some or all of their
clinical trials to companies called contract research
organizations (CROs). If you work in clinical devel-
opment within Big Pharma, interacting with CROs
will be an important part of your job. Likewise, if
you are an MD, PhD, MS, RN, or PharmD inter-
ested in working in clinical development, you may
find that CROs offer engaging and rewarding career
opportunities similar to those offered within Big
Pharma companies.
Clinical development offers other career options.
Regulatory affairs experts (typically scientists at the
master’s or PhD level, or with public health training)
are the liaisons between industry and government.
Most companies divide regulatory affairs into two
divisions—one that deals with clinical development
and another devoted to the composition and quality
of the pharmaceutical products. Both divisions com-
municate directly with government regulatory bodies
and manage great volumes of paperwork.
Clinical Research Physician
CRPs are medical doctors who develop and implement
plans for ushering experimental drugs through clinical
trials. They work on cross-functional teams to maximize
understanding of the pharmacological, regulatory, and
clinical dimensions of the drugs being studied.
Salary range: $90,000 to $200,000. Company-
sponsored speaking tours and other promotional events
offer the enterprising physician numerous other ways to
increase income.
Clinical Research Associate
These are the folks who oversee clinical trials. They get
involved in designing protocols, enlisting physician
investigators, training clinic personnel, and evaluating
data. The job can require travel, sometimes as much
as 80 percent of the time. CRAs may also manage the
services of an independent clinical research organiza-
tion that runs the actual studies. A BS, BSN, or RN is
required.

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Regulatory Affairs
Associate/Manager
The regulatory affairs career path suits job seekers
who have a background in science but don’t want to
do lab work. Regulatory affairs specialists complete
the paperwork required by regulatory agencies world-
wide and communicate directly with the agencies to
ask questions and resolve issues. Depending on their
level of industry experience, they may set regulatory
strategy for a pharma company. A master’s degree is
typically the minimum requirement for entry-level
positions.
Biostatistician
Statisticians in clinical development prepare analy-
sis plans for clinical studies, design tables and figures
that display information clearly, interpret final study
data, and write the statistical sections of clinical study
reports. As with research scientists, statistician titles
frequently include a I, II, or III to indicate education
and level of experience. Entry-level positions require
a master’s degree or PhD in statistics or a therapeutic
specialty; higher levels require a PhD and several years
of industry experience. Biostatisticians ultimately
report to the head of a therapeutic division at most
companies.
Salary range: $53,000 to $105,000
Clinical Data Manager
Clinical data managers supervise all aspects of clinical
data. They specify how metrics will be collected and
assist in standardizing data management procedures
for internal operations and external reporting. This
position typically requires at least a master’s degree
in a relevant area plus several years of industry expe-
rience.
Salary range: $82,000 to $119,000
Medical Science Liaison
MSLs are field-based MDs, PhDs, or PharmDs
with therapeutic area specialities. They interact with
physicians and scientists in the health-care commu-
nity—especially those doing prominent academic
research—to maximize the acceptance and proper use
of company products.
Salary range: $100,000 to $125,000 in base sal-
ary, with up to 25 percent in bonus
Manufacturing
and Quality
Assurance Jobs
› A variety of engineering types—biochemical,
electrical, environmental, industrial, mechanical, and
software engineers—as well as scientists can find work
in Big Pharma in the manufacturing arena. Roles
include designing the manufacturing processes for
drugs, ensuring the integrity of finished products,
creating product packaging, and planning specialized
work spaces.
One area that gets a lot of attention in pharmaceu-
ticals is called quality assurance and control—often
shortened to QA/QC. In general, quality assurance
ensures processes meet regulatory requirements, and
quality control ensures the integrity of a finished
product. More specifically, quality experts ensure
medicines are manufactured and studied in compli-
ance with federal standards. They examine production
plants, monitor investigator sites, audit study data,
and validate manufacturing processes and computer
systems. If you have a BS or higher in a relevant disci-
pline, you will find many opportunities here.
Like scientists on the pure research side, many
employees in manufacturing and QA/QC encounter
a dual ladder in Big Pharma. Engineers and scientists
can get promoted doing technical work or, if they have
the aptitude and inclination, they can shift over and

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become part of the management team that coordinates
the work of the technical folks.
Process Engineer
In most cases, process engineers work on project teams
with more senior engineers. Job responsibilities may
include designing chemical or biological methods for
mass-producing compounds, designing equipment,
and designing and overseeing the construction of vari-
ous elements of manufacturing plants from pilot to
commercial scale.
Quality Control Analyst
QC analysts are responsible for the biological and
chemical evaluation of products, materials, and facili-
ties. They perform assays and establish and write spec-
ifications and standard operating procedures. Most
people who fill this role have a BS. This position is
often a good fit for job seekers who have backgrounds
in science and like to work in highly structured set-
tings.
Quality Assurance Specialist
QA specialists ensure that a company’s testing, report-
ing, and manufacturing are in compliance with regu-
latory requirements. They conduct site audits and
review and analyze data and documentation. The
entry-level position typically requires a BS.
Business
Operations Jobs
› Business operations encompasses the
diverse array of commercially oriented positions
within a pharma company, plus the standard cor-
porate positions in areas such as finance, HR, and
purchasing. If you have an MBA, this is where you’ll
find the most opportunities, especially if you have
a bachelor’s degree in a scientific discipline, which
can demonstrate you’ll move up the learning curve
quickly in the complex industry of pharmaceuticals.
However, if you have some industry experience or
can prove you’re the right fit for the organization, a
science-based degree isn’t required.
Within marketing, there are analyst positions
galore, covering specifics such as market research,
forecasting, and promotional response analysis.
These are excellent entry-level positions for MBAs
without industry experience. One step up, requiring
some pharma experience, are assistant or associate
product managers, who execute a brand’s strategy
under the direction of a product manager. Product
managers are responsible for the overall success of
a brand. They work with a therapeutics-focused
business director or other representative from upper
management to set performance targets, and then
design an appropriate marketing strategy. Although
most product manager positions require an MBA,
some companies may also require industry sales
experience. Without it, you may need to complete a
rotational program in the field, or you’ll find your-
self competing unsuccessfully with internal sales
reps who are vying to move up the corporate ladder.
Market Research Analyst
Market research analysts collect and analyze data
to support the marketing of medicines during
every stage of the product life cycle. They design
and conduct market research studies, analyze data,
and communicate findings to management to sup-
port business recommendations. MRAs usually
work closely with product managers. This position
requires a bachelor’s degree in business, social sci-
ence, or a related field; an MBA is frequently pre-
ferred. Some travel may be required to oversee field
research.
Salary range: $46,000 to $75,000; more for
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Associate Product Manager
Associate product managers are primarily responsible
for coordinating and implementing campaigns for
specific drugs, audiences, or both. This involves a little
strategy and a lot of execution—things such as devel-
oping collateral pieces, working as a liaison to adver-
tising agencies, and establishing a company presence
at conventions. Many MBAs enter the industry this
way; other people come to this position from sales.
Product Manager
This job requires managing a team of people and
working to determine price, distribution, brand
image, forecasting, and overall strategy for one or
more drugs. On a micro level, the job can be claus-
trophobic: Imagine spending 13 months of six-day
weeks learning every aspect of a single drug, then
having the company decide it would be best sim-
ply to let the product die. But during the years you
should be exposed to some of the most important,
dynamic, and profitable drug markets in the indus-
try, an experience that will give you a big-picture
understanding of the industry and make you a
greater asset to any company.
Salary range: $65,000 to $120,000
Strategy Director
Strategy directors develop plans for maximizing the
commercial potential of a particular product or thera-
peutic area. They perform quantitative and qualitative
analyses of disease and treatment trends and assess
opportunities for expanding market share and com-
petitive positioning. These individuals typically work
closely with colleagues in marketing analytics, busi-
ness development, and finance. An MBA or master’s-
level degree in a health-care field and some industry
experience are required.
Salary range: $98,000 to $214,000
Business Development Manager
Employees in business development evaluate new
business opportunities that are aligned with a
pharma company’s therapeutic product divisions
and strategic goals. They examine in- and out-
licensing opportunities, collaborative development
deals, and joint ventures. The position requires
an MBA, strong analytical skills, and several years
of industry experience. At some companies, PhDs
work in this area.
Salary range: $83,000 to $124,000
Sales Jobs
› Big Pharma companies maintain huge staffs
of sales representatives who work to keep physi-
cians, hospitals, HMOs, and other medical institu-
tions abreast of and partial toward their company’s
drugs. The act of selling to doctors is widely known as
detailing, particularly if the salesperson uses company-
produced visual aids.
Sales reps are categorized according to the
particular customer base they serve: primary care
physicians (PCPs), specialty physicians, hospital
physicians, and managed care companies. Some sales
reps visit pharmacies as well.
Field reps service territories typically defined by
specialty and geography (such as all primary care doc-
tors in Omaha) and operate under a prescribed call
cycle that determines how often they visit doctors in
their territory. Call cycles range between two weeks
and four months for most drugs, but can sometimes
be as frequent as every few days during the introduc-
tion of hot new products or for physicians who are
high-volume prescribers.
District managers usually are in charge of 10 to
14 field reps, hiring, training, and supervising them;
regional managers oversee the district managers.
Some sales positions require extensive travel; oth-
ers don’t. Virtually all positions come with generous

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perks such as a company car, computer, and expense
account, plus attractive bonuses based on sales.
A bachelor’s degree in the sciences will help, and
some type of previous sales experience is typically
required. Many companies view sales as the natural
right of entry into marketing positions in the corpo-
rate office.
Average base salary: $68,600 plus generous incen-
tives; specialty and hospital reps earn higher on average
than PCP reps
Real People
Profiles
› Following are profiles of actual people
working in the biotech and pharmaceuticals industry.
Research Associate III
Years in business: 5
Age: 29
Education: BS in biology
Size of company: 5,000 employees
Hours per week: 45. The hours are pretty cushy. Once
in a while I stay late or stop in on the weekend, but
there are plenty of people who don’t.
Annual salary/bonus: $56,000 plus options
and benefits
What do you do?
I evaluate the ability of novel vaccines to improve the
immune system.
How did you get your job?
Total, total networking. After I got out of school, I
worked in an academic lab for a few years. When I
decided I wanted to leave that job, my boss put me in
touch with someone he knew here, and the guy gave
me a job.
What are your career aspirations?
Within five years I’d like to be in grad school. I’m actually
more interested in the policy side than the science side,
so I’ll probably end up studying public health or policy.
What kind of person does
really well at this job?
A conscientious person—someone who pays attention
to detail and questions why a thing is done a certain
way rather than assuming things are always fine the way
they are.
What do you really like about your job?
My work has a purpose: the development of new medi-
cines that will help people lead healthier lives. I really
believe in what I do.
What do you dislike?
Corporate greed and politics often seem to override the
philanthropic nature of my company’s work.
What is the biggest misconception
about this job?
That it’s totally cutting-edge or really complicated. In
five minutes, I can explain what I do to anyone.
How can someone get a job like yours?
Along with a college degree, you usually need some
lab experience to get a job as a research associate. You
can get this by working in a lab while you’re in college.
If you don’t, you can get good experience by working
as a medical technician in a hospital lab or a similar
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Describe a typical day.
I usually spend about three days a week in the lab and
two days a week in the office. Here’s a lab day:
9:00 a.m. Come in and put on gloves, coat, gog-
gles. Set up samples and start them run-
ning on a big machine.
1:00 p.m. Head down to the cafeteria for lunch.
2:00 p.m. Settle in to read the data off the machine
that’s running my experiment.
6:00 p.m. Go home.
Here’s an office day:
9:00 a.m. The project this morning is to analyze
the data I collected yesterday. I read my
lab notes to see what I was looking for
and compare this with the data. The
results are somewhat promising, and I
create a few tables and graphs to repre-
sent the data.
12:00 p.m. Lunch at the cafeteria.
1:00 p.m. Write up a schedule for future
experiments.
2:30 p.m. Take care of my inventory. Figure out
what animals and supplies I’ll need in
the near future and place the necessary
orders.
5:00 p.m. Go home.
Research Engineer
Age: 25
Education: BS, MS in mechanical engineering
Hours per week: 50. Weekend work is rare.
Annual salary/bonus: $62,000 plus a performance
bonus of around 10 percent
What do you do?
I design, build, and maintain robots and automated
machinery for a midsized pharmaceutical company.
When I was finishing school, I decided that I wanted
to get a job in pharma. One day I was chatting with my
roommate’s friend about my job search, and the guy
told me that his cousin was a scientist at a pharma com-
pany. I got in touch with him and talked to him about
the company. He forwarded my resume to HR and I
ended up getting a position as a mechanical engineer.
I’m pretty happy here, but I think in a few years I’d like
to try working in another industry to see what other
challenges are out there.
What kind of person does really
well at this job?
Someone who is a creative, persistent problem solver.
It’s easy enough to design and build a machine. The
hard part comes when you’ve put it all together and it
doesn’t work. That’s when you need to hang in there,
think creatively, and come up with new ideas.
It’s great to come up with a design and see it through to
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The grunt work. Machine maintenance—fixing broken
valves, for instance—is something that I have to do a
fair bit of, and it’s really pretty boring.
What is the biggest misconception about
this job?
I don’t know; I think what I do is pretty
straightforward.
Network—go to conferences, talk to people you know
who work in the industry. A science background is also
a big plus.
9:00 a.m. Come in, check email, voice mail. A few
new emails, no voicemail, no emergencies.
9:05 a.m. Walk down the hall to check on the
synthesizers. These machines have been
a big project of mine the whole time
I’ve been here—I designed and built
them from the ground up. Their pur-
pose is to automate a key task that
chemists formerly had to do manu-
ally. This morning I am making a few
modifications—drilling holes, mount-
ing hardware—that I hope will make
the machines more reliable.
9:45 a.m. Explain the changes I’ve made to the
chemists who work with the machines.
10:00 a.m. Back in my office. Unpack a box of parts
that came in this morning. Make sure
that my supplier sent me what I ordered.
(He did.)
10:15 a.m. Research a pump I need to buy. Look on
the Internet, call several vendors. Figure
out exactly what I need; fill out paper-
work for the order.
12:00 p.m. Go out to lunch at a nearby deli with a
few biologists.
1:00 p.m. Work on putting together some new
machines I’m building.
4:00 p.m. Meet with another engineer and the
scientist who is setting up a new lab to
discuss the machines he’s going to need.
5:00 p.m. The contractor who is building the elec-
tronics for my synthesizers comes in to do
some testing. We discuss his timelines so
that I can stay on top of any mechanical or
electronic interface issues that might arise.
6:00 p.m. Go home.

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Specialty Sales Rep
Years in business: 5 months
Age: 25
Education: BS in chemistry
Size of company: 20,000 people
Hours per week: 40
Annual salary/bonus: $45,000 plus $12,000 bonus
and a company car
What do you do?
I visit doctors to educate them about the drugs my
company sells. My goal is for them to prescribe my
company’s drugs.
I was working in research and decided that it wasn’t
where I wanted to go with my career, so I started look-
ing for a job in sales. I spent about five months look-
ing—answering ads in the paper, going through a
recruiter, sending out unsolicited resumes, network-
ing through friends. It took me a while to hone my
interviewing skills. Then all of a sudden everything just
clicked, and I wound up getting a bunch of offers in a
single week.
I don’t have it all mapped out, but I definitely see sales
as a stepping-stone to a management role, and it seems
like there’s a lot of possibility in my company.
What kind of person does really well at
this job?
Someone who can deal confidently with the techni-
cal aspects of the job while being personable. You have
to be able to interact with a wide range of personality
types, from nice to nasty, and you have to be confident
in your knowledge when you’re dealing with doctors
who don’t want to see you or who think you don’t know
what you’re talking about.
I like interacting with people all the time, and I love
the freedom of my job. It’s like owning my own busi-
ness, and I know that if I work hard, I’ll do well. I also
like that what I do has a tangible, positive impact on my
company’s bottom line.
The honeymoon’s still not over for me with this job, so
I still like pretty much everything. But it seems like the
lack of structure and supervision could definitely be a
pitfall down the road.
this job?
That anyone can do it well. It is true that almost any-
one can get by for a while, but in order to succeed, you
really need to be serious about what you’re doing. You
need to be focused and determined, to stay on top of
things at all times.
Sales experience is probably the most helpful thing. I
didn’t have sales experience, but I had a background in
science, which was a plus, and I spent several months
figuring out how to sell myself in an interview. Try to
network your way into an interview. Look in the paper.
If there aren’t any ads for pharmaceutical sales reps,
look again next week. You can also get a book called the
PDR, the Physicians’ Desk Reference. It lists all the phar-
maceutical companies in the country. I got this book
and sent resumes out to about 90 companies, which got
me about 20 interviews. In general, be confident and
be patient.
8:00 a.m. Get up, check email. Two new mes-
sages—one’s from my boss, to give me
the weekly market share report; the
other’s from another sales rep to let me
know that there’s a particular study he’s

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been pointing out to doctors that has
been convincing them to prescribe one
of our drugs. It’s a good tip.
8:10 a.m. Plan out my day. There’s a set group of
doctors who are my responsibility, and
I’m on a two-week call cycle, which
means I’m supposed to visit each one
every two weeks. I sit down and look
at who I’ll be visiting that day, review
my notes from my last visits, and figure
out what my strategy will be with each
doctor.
8:45 a.m. Hit the road.
9:00 a.m. Visit my first doctor of the day. Most
doctors’ offices are open from 9:00 a.m.
to noon and again from 2:00 to 4:00
p.m. I try to hit five offices each morn-
ing. I don’t always get in to see the doc-
tors (which means I end up talking to
the receptionist), but I’m getting better
at it. A big part of the trick is just figur-
ing out when to show up. I get in to see
this guy, and do pretty well—I’m able to
address some of the issues he mentioned
during my last visit, and he seems mildly
impressed.
9:30 a.m. Back on the streets. I manage to make it
to four more doctors’ offices by midday,
though I only get in to see two of them.
12:00 p.m. Check email, grab lunch, read a few new
studies that have come out on the drugs
I sell.
2:00 p.m. Back to the doctors. Of the five I’m visit-
ing this afternoon, three are in the same
building, which makes things pretty
easy. I get in to see four of the five docs,
which is nice, and I’m done with my day
by 4:00 p.m., which is really nice.
4:05 p.m. Head home.

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Therapeutic Specialist
Age: 30
Education: BS in nutrition; working towards RD
(registered dietician) and MBA
Hours per week: More than 40, but hard to say
because I work at home
Annual salary/bonus: $60,000 base plus $50,000
bonus; eligible for up to $85,000 bonus
What do you do?
Consultative selling for a pharmaceutical product. I
explain the product, identify patients, discuss how to
use the product with a particular patient.
I was interested in pharmaceutical sales, but a head-
hunter said there was no way they’d hire me without
sales experience. I went to a sales and marketing job
fair and there were three pharma companies present. I
was patient (there were a lot of people waiting to talk
with them) and aggressive, and I closed them. Out of
three interviews, I got three offers. After a year and a
half of doing really well at this company, I was able to
move into a specialist position here.
My five-year plan is to be in the home office as a
product manager. Eventually, I’d like to be a regional
director.
this job?
Someone who’s outgoing and who reads people well.
You have to know the signs: when it’s time to go, when
to step into the office, when to be stronger, and when
to back off. You need to be motivated because you’re
working out of your home. You need to be able to take
rejection; it’s a bummer.
The flexibility. The home office. Being out in the field.
Some people think it’s lonely, but I’ve developed such
good relationships in the therapeutic community that
I’m not lonely. The benefits are great. They give you a
car and pay for all your gas.
The home office; it’s hard to stop sometimes. The rejec-
tion and lack of respect for the sales profession.
this job?
People think pharma sales is easy, that you’re always
having lunch. It’s not easy. My first year was very diffi-
cult, a really tough year. There’s a lot of knowledge you
need to have for this job. It takes a certain type of per-
son to do it well.
Get to know people in the industry. Talk to people who
have this job. General pharma sales positions are usu-
ally available. There’s high turnover. Once you’re in,
you’re in.
7:00 a.m. I work out of my home, so I am at
my desk by 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. every
day checking email. I do a lot of busi-
ness through email—asking for appoint-
ments, answering questions. Then I
might work on creating proposals until
8:30.
9:00 a.m. Out of the house.
10:00 a.m. Might have two appointments sched-
uled for the morning, and I might
drop into one office. I prefer to work
by appointment. I make appointments
directly with the doctor rather than

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office staff because they make it difficult.
They don’t differentiate between a spe-
cialist and a general pharma rep.
12:00 p.m. Take a physician to lunch. Sometimes I
bring lunch to their office, but I prefer
to go out.
1:00 p.m. Two more appointments in the after-
noon. Usually have only 5 to 10 minutes
to discuss my product, but sometimes
appointments last 45 minutes depend-
ing on the doctor’s interest.
3:00 p.m. Drop into an office and the physi-
cian’s on vacation, so I talk with the
PharmD (doctor of pharmacy). I always
sell directly to the doctor, but I talk
to the other members of the team.
Both the PharmD and the nurse have
a say. The nurse is around the patient
a lot more than the doctor and reports
on how the patient tolerates the drug,
and the PharmD coordinates the meds
and checks on how meds are working
together. I also have a testing product so
I talk to lab people about that.
4:00 p.m. Home again to check email.
7:00 p.m. Take a physician out to dinner.
10:00 p.m. Home for the evening.
Clinical Research Associate
Years in business: 1½ in industry after 3½ as a study
coordinator in a clinic
Age: 39
Education: BS in chemistry
Hours per week: 45 to 50
Annual salary: $59,000
What do you do?
I manage all of the company’s expanded access pro-
grams in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia for
one particular compound currently in clinical trials.
Expanded access is when the safety and efficacy of a
drug has been sufficiently established and we’re close
to filing an NDA (new drug application) with the
FDA, and we expand participation of a trial to include
compassionate use by a sick population. It’s a goodwill
gesture and also allows us to obtain data on a larger
population.
Through a colleague who went to work for the com-
pany. Networking is everything.
I’m in line for a promotion to senior CRA. The next
step is program manager; then comes associate director,
which is probably as high as I can go because I’m not a
clinician. What I really want to do when I grow up is
be a therapist.
this job?
Someone who communicates well both verbally and
in writing. You have to be very organized and detail-
oriented. There’s so much paper; you’re buried very
quickly if you don’t keep on top of it. Someone who
has a very good memory. If you can keep a lot of
things in your head and on the tip of your tongue,
you’ll do well.

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That I work on the particular disease that I do.
Also, I really like the people I work with. They’re
very open to questions. There are great mentors
here. It’s not a formal program; people are just very
willing to help and teach, and my experience at the
clinical site level is appreciated and respected.
The industry is pretty meeting-crazy. It makes it
hard to get your job done. There are too many CCs
on emails, and it makes for information overload.
People need to have a better sense of what others
really need to know. It’s a huge time waster when
there’s never enough time to begin with.
this job?
People think the work is glamorous because you
get to travel a lot to monitor sites. It depends on
the way the company works. We hire clinical data
organizations to monitor the sites, so we don’t
travel as much as people at other places. At other
companies, CRAs might travel 75 to 80 percent of
the time. It’s important to know what the travel
expectation is. I do travel for investigator meet-
ings and to visit sites when problems arise.
I knew a lot about the disease, not because I
had a science background, but because of my
clinical site experience. I would strongly suggest
that you check with your college alumni asso-
ciation and set up informational interviews
with people who do this work. There are
now certificate programs for CRAs you can
enroll in. Also, check the Web for local industry
groups and consortia that hold regular meetings
and presentations that anyone can attend. There
are also industry conferences that you have to
register and pay for, like the Drug Information
Association and ICAAC (Interscience Conference
on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy), which
is part of the American Society for Microbiology.
9:00 a.m. Check and return email and voice mail.
This can take one to two hours. I’m
dealing with time differences, so I’m
responding to a backlog of things that
Europe has sent to me. Mondays are the
worst, and today it took all morning.
12:00 p.m. We have a gourmet cafe on site, so I go
there for a half-hour lunch. Then I take a
walk around our lake.
1:00 p.m. Meet with my boss about a request I
received from one of our investigators
about an article he wants to write for a
publication about his experiences with
our clinical trial. The guidelines for this
process are laid out in his contract, but
some clinical parts of the request were
unclear.
2:00 p.m. Attend the weekly group meeting
where we share study updates and
information.
3:00 p.m. Meet with my boss about a trial partici-
pant whose lab values have fallen out of
range. When this happens, we might
reduce the dosage or discontinue use.
I’m not a clinician, so when it’s really
close, my boss, who’s a PharmD, makes
the call.
4:00 p.m. Attempt to meet with my other boss,
but she’s in a meeting that ran over so it
doesn’t happen. Then I check and return
email and voicemail until 6:00 p.m.

37
CHAPTER1
ataGlance
CHAPTER2
TheIndustry
CHAPTER4
TheWorkplace
CHAPTER5
TheCompanies
CHAPTER6
GettingHired
CHAPTER7
ForYourReference
CHAPTER3
OntheJob
Manufacturing Manager
Age: 39
Education: MS in biochemistry
Hours per week: 50
Annual salary: $100,000
What do you do?
I’m responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of
one specific part of a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant.
It was listed on the company’s website. I sent in my
resume, but it also helped that I had friends who worked
for the company.
I would like to manage the operation of an entire
plant. That’s the logical next step for this career path.
Another option would be to switch to another depart-
ment. Regulatory affairs is very interesting to me.
this job?
People with good attention to detail. That orientation
is key because it’s a highly regulated industry. You also
need good communication skills. There’s a lot of writ-
ten documentation. A science background is impor-
tant but a mechanical inclination is just as important.
I get to work with people in different specialties. A lot
of different groups interact with manufacturing. You
can learn a lot about the organization.
Having to work with people who aren’t team players.
Teamwork is mandatory, and there are people who don’t
appreciate that.
this job?
A lot of people think it’s like manufacturing cars. This
isn’t like heavy industrial manufacturing. This is sci-
ence-related manufacturing. It’s not mindless and it’s
not highly automated. Very skilled labor is required.
Schools don’t teach pharmaceutical manufacturing
skills, so it’s unreasonable for us to expect an entry-level
worker to have them. We train people from scratch.
We’re looking for good communicators with mechani-
cal aptitude and willingness to learn. The expectation is
you’ll work here for two to four years, then move on.
7:00 a.m. The first thing I do is check to see what
happened the night before. We’re a 24-hour
operation and I need to know where we are
in production. Then I check email and my
calendar.
8:00 a.m. We have a daily startup meeting to plan
the day’s activity.
9:00 a.m. Meet with the quality assurance group to
investigate incidents.
10:00 a.m. Meet with one of the several supervisors
who report to me.
11:00 a.m. Work on my own documents. We pro-
duce more paper than product.
12:00 p.M Review batch records.
4:00 p.m. Meet with a plant engineer to review equip-
ment specifications and construction sched-
ule for a long-term facility expansion project.
5:00 p.m. Go home.

CHAPTER1
ataGlance
CHAPTER2
TheIndustry
CHAPTER4
TheWorkplace
CHAPTER5
TheCompanies
CHAPTER6
GettingHired
CHAPTER7
ForYourReference
CHAPTER3
OntheJob
Director of Operations,
Planning, and Analysis
Years in business: 6, all with the same company
Age: 37
Education: MBA
Size of company: well over 25,000 people
Hours per week: I’m pretty much an 8-to-6 guy and
typically work a 50-hour week.
Annual salary/bonus: $180,000 including bonus, plus
options
What do you do?
I spend about 50 percent of my time supervising a team
of MBA analysts. My team is responsible for profit-
ability forecasting, competitive analysis, analysis of
large capital projects, mergers and acquisitions, and
the financial aspects of the licensing and development
projects. The team’s findings are reported directly to
senior management. The other 50 percent of my time
is divided between high-level strategic planning proj-
ects and the preparation and delivery of presentations to
senior management.
I worked as a summer associate here between my first
and second years of business school. When I left that
summer, the company made me an offer to return the
following year as an analyst. I took them up on their
offer, then worked my way up to senior analyst, and
later to a position in business development, which in
turn led into my current position.
I could see my career going in a number of directions:
I could happily keep this job for several years to come.
I could become a VP of a business unit or of corporate
strategic planning. I could end up taking on a CFO role
at one of my company’s subsidiaries, or at an indepen-
dent biotech company that’s transforming itself from a
lab-coat-and-petri-dish shop into a full-fledged, reve-
nue-driven company.
this job?
When people think of finance, they think of dull, repet-
itive jobs. And there are in fact lots of jobs like that.
But there are also interesting, dynamic jobs. In order to
work at interesting jobs, you need to be creative. You
need to see the bigger picture, come up with fresh ideas,
and throw yourself into the breach by creating projects
and by taking on whatever comes your way. At the same
time, you need to pay attention to the details, to triple-
check your data. No matter how beautiful or brilliant
your presentation is, if there are errors in your data,
they’re all that people will remember.
It is a high-stakes game that results in meaningful
products. And the confluence of science and capital is
incredibly interesting.
Corporate politics. I hate to see smart people become
totally preoccupied with jostling for position. Also, I
think there is too much functional segregation. Smart
people can succeed anywhere and should get to rotate
around more in the company. Too often people get
pigeonholed and end up overinvested in one particular
segment of the company.
your job?
That my team is made up of a bunch of police officers
who exist solely to bust people’s chops on behalf of
senior management. In fact, we often work as a launch-
ing pad for new ideas and work collaboratively with
people from all over the company.
Be a little bit unusual. Don’t be afraid to jump into dis-
cussions, offer your own ideas, question other people’s
assumptions. Of course it takes some subtlety and tact,
but this way you distinguish yourself from the mass of

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