R&D
The pathSkills
This is the research side of pharma. You discover and test new drug molecules and methods — the work that later gets turned into products and manufactured. It covers discovery, synthetic and API process chemistry, and analytical R&D. Teams are small and lab-based, made up of postgraduate scientists. A PhD is increasingly needed for senior and lead roles. Pay is higher than QA/QC at the same stage, but jobs are few and almost always need an M.Pharm.
The steps in this path
Common questions
Rarely. Core R&D almost always needs an M.Pharm, usually in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Analysis, or Pharmaceutics. An M.Sc in Chemistry is also common. A B.Pharm alone is seldom enough, so the usual route is to do an M.Pharm first.