How to engage in development of new drugs?

[CareDD]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi yall, I know you guys are either in pharmacy school right now or already become licensed pharmacists. I am curious how would you be able to engage in development of new drugs as a pharmacist? I have two suggestions in mind:

1/get your Pharm.D, then do a fellowship in research
2/get your PhD in pharmacology or medicinal chemistry

Which route has more advantage?

But then I thought about it again, I was like ... a PhD would work on basic research, stuff like bench work, finding out which chemical entity that can affect the disease, going deep into molecular biology. On the other hand, a PharmD, who was also on the same team, would work on the other end of the project, clinical trials, design experiments on human subjects, etc ... Am I correct?

 

[gadlo]

Don't forget that you can combine 1 and 2. Many programs have PharmD/PhD tracks. The general idea behind dual degrees is that it will help you develop as a scientist and as a clinician. Some have argued that clinicians often do not know how bench science works or how to scientifically approach questions. Some have argued that scientists endlessly chase after ideas that would never make it into the clinic. The dual degree is supposed to bridge the disconnect between the bench and clinic.

About your specific questions. You are generally correct. The routes in isolation will affect which side of research and development that you'd be on. If you went with the PhD, your skillset would primarily be valued on the research side. If you did a PharmD, you'd be valuable to the clinical (development) side. Combining the two degrees would give you more options and could possibly get you higher up the food chain (more on the clinical side because the research side has a lot of "dues paying" because of a poor job market right now).

 

[xiphoid2010]

Hi yall, I know you guys are either in pharmacy school right now or already become licensed pharmacists. I am curious how would you be able to engage in development of new drugs as a pharmacist? I have two suggestions in mind:

1/get your Pharm.D, then do a fellowship in research
2/get your PhD in pharmacology or medicinal chemistry

Which route has more advantage?

When I was doing drug research, my senior director was a Ph.D/RPh. But she has been out of practice for ages, and is only doing Ph.D research work -- how to make the best lead compound, primarily optimization SAR and follow the rule of 5. All of her peers had Ph.D only, so having an RPh in addition was not necessary, at least in the chemistry department.

Maybe the RPh part is more useful in the drug formulation and delivery part of the research. Also pharmacist dispense investigational drugs during clinical trials, but experienced PharmDs can do that, not sure Ph.D is necessary that far down the research pipeline.

 

[CareDD]

man these are tough .. a PharmD/PhD track generally take 7-8 years ... and I am already old enough to start a family