Pharmaceutical Discovery and Development

This focus track provides students with an understanding of the technical 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.

After completing this focus track, students should have the working knowledge and expertise to communicate effectively with both technical managers and business executives and to make ongoing contributions to the bio/pharmaceutical industry. Opportunities at KGI for research in drug discovery are available through both the MBS and MBS-PhD programs.

Career Options
Alliance Management
Bio/Pharmaceutical Management
Bio/Pharmaceutical Sales
Business Development
Clinical Trial Design & Management
Market Research
Medical Writing
Product Management
Pre-clinical & Clinical Research
Regulatory Affairs

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/Pharmaceutical Discovery and Development Career Focus Track

Technical Courses
Students may choose any combination of courses from the following list that comprise a total at least four units over both semesters.
ALS 401 Biopharma: Biotechnology-based Therapeutics
ALS 403 Downstream Processing of Biopharmaceuticals (1/2 course)
ALS 407 Pharmacogenetics (1/2 course)
ALS 409 High Throughput Technologies (1/2 course)
ALS 412 Computational Biology for Drug Discovery (1/2 course)
ALS 427 Mammalian Cell Biotechnology
ALS 429 Bioseparations Engineering and Science
ALS 433 Clinical Trial Design, Conduct and Strategy (1/2 course)
ALS 434 Advanced Clinical Biostatistics (1/2 course)
ALS 435 U.S. Regulatory Affairs (1/2 course)
ALS 436 Small Molecule Regulatory Affairs (1/2 course)
ALS 437 Introduction to Clinical Pharmacology I (1/2 course)
ALS 438 Introduction to Clinical Pharmacology II (1/2 course)

Business Courses
Students may choose any combination of courses from the following list that comprise a total at least two units over both semesters.
ALS 452 Applied Entrepreneurship Practicum* (1/2 course)
ALS 454 International Business and Global Health
ALS 455 Building a Biomedical Enterprise
ALS 456 Managing Strategic Networks
ALS 458 Applied Entrepreneurship**
ALS 459 Project Management (1/2 course)

*ALS 452 may count as a business/management course only with permission of the faculty instructor.
**ALS 458 begins in October and continues through March for a total of one course unit.