Pharmaceutical Discovery and Development
This focus track provides students with an understanding of the processes involved in drug discovery, clinical development and regulatory approval for pharmaceutical and biological products. Students also gain knowledge and experience in assessing the pharmaceutical industry and pharmaceutical market opportunities. Ethical challenges that face the pharmaceutical industry, the regulatory agencies and society are explored. Case studies from industry are used to detail the complex scientific, business and ethical situations arising in companies during product development.
The process of drug discovery, the subsequent management of clinical trials, and marketing, sales and life-cycle management of commercial drug products provide enormously challenging and rewarding career opportunities for students with an MBS degree. Whether intending to work in large pharmaceutical companies, small biotech companies, government regulatory agencies or non-government, health care organizations students gain an understanding of the scientific and business challenges of bringing a pharmaceutical or biological product to market.
Topics in the Curriculum
Bioethics
Bioinformatics
Biomarkers
Biostatistics
Clinical Pharmacology
Clinical Trial Design
Combinatorial Chemistry
High Throughput Screening
Pharmacogenomics
Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics
Proteomics/Genomics
Structure-based Drug Discovery
Target Validation
Course Offerings for the Bio/Pharmaceuticals Career Focus Track
Students may choose any combination of courses from the following list that comprise a total at least four credits over both semesters.
ALS 401 Biotechnology-based Therapeutics (1 credit)
ALS 406 High Throughput Technologies Lab (1/2 credit)
ALS 407 Personal Genomics and Health (1/2 credit)
ALS 409 High Throughput Technologies (1/2 credit)
ALS 418 Bio pharmaceutical Quality assurance and Control (1/2 credit)
ALS 421 Mammalian Cell Biotechnology Laboratory (1 credit)
ALS 422 Bioseparations Laboratory (1/2 credit)
ALS 423 Fundamentals of Commercial Biotech Operations (1/2 credit)
ALS 427 Mammalian Cell Biotechnology (1/2 credit)
ALS 429 Bioseparations Engineering and Science (1/2 credit)
ALS 430 Advanced Pharmaceutical Discovery (1/2 credit)
ALS 431 Biostatistics Lab (no credit)
ALS 433 Design of Clinical Trials (1/2 credit)
ALS 434 Clinical Biostatistics (1/2 credit)
ALS 435 Medical Device & Biologics Regulatory Affairs (1/2 credit)
ALS 437 Clinical Pharmacology I (1 credit)
ALS 438 Clinical Pharmacology II (1 credit)
ALS 461 Phase 1 Clinical Trials (1/2 credit)