Pharmaceutical Chemistry Job – Scope & Career Prospects
What is Pharmaceutical Chemistry?
Pharmaceutical chemistry is part of the larger field of medicinal chemistry. Pharmaceutical chemists develop and evaluate new and better drugs for the healthcare industry. These medicinal chemists focus on drug development and discovery by concentrating on creating new synthetic drug compounds.
Pharmaceutical chemistry comprises drug development and is the study of drugs. This includes drug discovery, metabolism, absorption, delivery, and so on. There are elements of pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, and biomedical analysis involved.
Pharmaceutical chemistry involves drug chemistry, quality assurance, metabolism, pharmacology, analytical techniques, and cures, and remedies for disease. Pharmaceutical chemistry leads to careers in pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, drug development, and research facilities.
Educational Qualifications:
For Pharmaceutical Chemistry Job – Usually, the first step to earning an education in pharmaceutical chemistry is by completing a Bachelor of Science in chemistry or related Sciences such as Chemical Engineering Biochemistry, Organic chemistry, or Pharmacology. A Master Degree in Pharmaceutical chemistry is ideal to have a successful career in this field.
Pharmaceutical chemists require a lot of skills to be successful. This includes understanding how to purify and identify products, how to analyze and identify different compounds
, how to understand biological functions, and the process of which drugs work and communications in order to report the results of their research. The skills can be gained through various related online certification courses available.Discoveries In The Field Of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
A group of New York scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven lab found two favorable candidates for developing drugs against the adenovirus. The adenovirus causes a variety of illnesses from colds and respiratory diseases to gastrointestinal disorders, pneumonia, and eye infections. After studying the structure of the enzyme necessary to grow the adenovirus as well as how it becomes active, scientists search for compounds in the national database that could interfere with this enzyme. They came up with about 140,000 compounds and eventually researchers were able to identify 30 molecules to test. In order to block the enzyme’s activation and inhibit the strain of the virus, scientists use x-ray crystallography to display regions of the enzyme which could block the enzyme’s activation. Scientists were able to narrow it down to two molecules which proved to be inhibitors of the adenovirus enzyme. Now researchers are working to design a smaller compound of the molecules in order to be distributed as effective drugs against all types of adenovirus strains.
Another discovery in pharmaceutical chemistry originated at the UK’s Institute of cancer research where scientists have formulated a new drug that minimizes the growth of glioblastoma a common form of brain tumor and mice by up to 98% and they reduced the growth of ovarian tumors in mice by 80%. Scientists created the drug so that it blocks the pathway that is known to be associated with the growth in the spread of many cancers. The drug itself is effective in two ways. It regulates the genetic signals responsible for cancer progression and it also prohibits the function of cells in your body that assists the tumor by adding to its necessary blood supply. The drug, which shows a lot of potentials has yet to reach this stage, which scientists are working towards where successfully targets cancers in humans as well.
Pharmaceutical Chemistry Career Aspects:
There are various fields that pharmaceutical chemistry can be applied to. Jobs including Developing and Formulating drugs to treat patients with diseases and researching how different chemicals affect various biological systems. Chemists at the US Food & Drug Administration or the FDA review drug applications from pharmaceutical companies. In addition, there are two distinct fields of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Synthetic pharmaceuticals, and analytical pharmaceuticals. Synthetic pharmaceutical chemists create new drugs and products in the most cost-effective way that produces the least amount of negative side-effects. Analytical pharmaceutical chemists design and apply methods of chemical analysis to a product to ensure that the drug is refined.
Work-Life Of A Pharmaceutical Chemist:
In the work-life of a pharmaceutical chemist, they usually start a project by researching the materials needed, the rules and regulations for that product, as well as finding a way to come up with the starter formulation. They test this formulation and put the materials and molecules together to form the right kind of product. After this, they find out if the drug is stable, and whether or not there are problems with the formulation. They then deliver it to manufacturing companies where they write factsheets and ensure products are designed, packaged, and tested correctly.
A day to day lifestyle pharmaceutical chemists must be part of a team and communicate well with others who are part of them marketing manufacturing and production divisions. These chemists must also have technical writing skills in order to be qualified to draft procedures and reports. They must also be able to build cost-efficient products, and they are responsible for checking products if there are complaints, by working with personnel to determine the exact problem with the product and find a way to solve it.
Skill Required in Pharmaceutical Chemistry:
Pharmaceutical chemists must have good written and verbal communication skills which are invaluable assets when interacting with scientists from other disciplines and must be team players in the drug discovery process. Other required skills include:
- Synthetic organic chemistry skills
- Ability to purify drugs and intermediates
- Spectroscopic techniques
- Broad understanding of biological roles drugs
- Teamwork and interpersonal skills
- Good communication skills
 Pharmaceutical Chemistry Job Prospects
- Drug Discovery & Development (CADD)
- Organic & Medicinal Chemistry Division
- Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Division
- Pharmaceutical Bulk Drug Division
- Pharmaceutical Analytical R & D
Scope Of Pharmaceutical Chemistry:
Pharmaceutical Chemistry allows for collaboration with researchers from other disciplines like microbiologists, theoretical chemists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, biologists, and bio-pharmacists in developing new drugs as it is a stimulating discipline which links many scientific disciplines. By having a strong background in organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry, interested candidates can place themselves in a competitive position in this career field.
The two important qualities a pharmaceutical chemist must possess is a good imagination and persistence. For those who are passionate about having a career in the field of pharmaceutical chemistry, a strong motivating factor for them is the fact that their work helps to improve human health and reduce suffering.
Pharmaceutical Chemistry Job
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