5 Career Options in Pharmaceutical Industry
Pharmaceutical Industry is one of the most emerging and sought industries. The Pharmaceutical Industry jobs provide a wide variety of career opportunities in India. Pharmacy deals with the study areas such as medicinal chemistry, industrial pharmacy, drug safety, marketing, accounting, finance many more. It deals with health sciences, manufacturing, and preparing drugs. Its main focus is to make sure the use of the medicines safely. Let us now look at the highest paying jobs in the pharmaceutical industry in India.
Before we look at the top pharma jobs, let us know in detail about Pharmaceutical Industry, its types, career options in pharmaceutical industry, their average salaries in India, job roles and responsibilities, skills, qualifications, specializations, and certifications.
What is the Pharmaceutical Industry?
Pharmaceutical Industry is a highly supervised or maintained industry as it is the most demanding industry all over the world. India is the largest provider of generic medicines globally and it ranks the third position in pharmaceutical products according to India Brand Equity Foundation. The study or the working areas involves marketing, accounting, and finance and a background in science or medicine helps to get a job in a pharma company.
Pharmacy Course Qualifications
Bachelor’s Degree
The students can pursue a career in Pharmacy and have passed their 10+2 examination in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, or Biology. A minimum of 55% of the score is required to get admission to B.Pharma. This course duration is for 4 years. The students must write one of these entrance exams to obtain a bachelor’s degree UPSEE, GPAT, NEET, BITSAT, MHT-CET, TS EAMCET, AP EAMCET, BCECE, and WBJEE among others.
Master’s Degree
For a Master's degree candidates must have a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from a recognized university. A minimum of 50% of the score is required to be eligible for a Master of Pharmacy, M.Pharma. This course duration is for 2 years. The entrance exams for this course are GPAT, BITS HD, NIPER JEE, HPCET, OJEE, AP PGECET, TS PGECET, and TANCET among others.
Pharmacy specialization
- Ayurveda
- Quality Assurance
- Pharmaceutics
- Pharmacology
- Clinical Pharmacy
- Medicinal Chemistry
- Pharmacognosy
- Bio pharmaceutics
- Drug Regulatory Affairs
- Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
- Drug Discovery and Drug Development
- Pharmaceutical Analysis and Quality Assurance
Types of Careers in the Pharmaceutical Industry
The Pharmaceutical Industry includes various types of careers that are
Research and development | Production and manufacturing |
Regulatory affairs | Operations |
Validation | Sales and marketing |
Quality assurance and control | Clinical trials |
Medical science liaison | Pharmacologist |
Scientist | Pharmacist |
Medical Representative | - |
Pharmaceutical industry jobs in India
Pharmaceutical Sales Representative | Clinical Data Manager |
Regulatory Specialist | Medical Writer |
Biotechnology Consultant | Procurement |
Research & Development Manager | Project Manager |
Quality Control | Laboratory Analyst |
Manufacturing and Quality Assurance |
Pharmacy careers after graduation
- Insurance Coder, Regulatory Manager
- Health Centre Manager, Drug Dispenser
- Pharmaceutical Marketing Representative
- Drug Control Administrator, Hospital Manager
- Drug Therapist, Customs Officer, Pharma Data Analyst
- Trainer, Assistant Professor, Food and Drug Administrator
- Drug Inspector, Hospital Drug Administrator, Medical Transcriptionist
- Research Manager, Health Inspector, Chemical Analyst, Drug Technician
Top 5 career options in Pharmaceutical Industry
Let us now look at the top 5 career options in the pharmaceutical Industry and their average salaries in India, job roles and responsibilities, skills and qualifications.
1. Research & Development Manager
Research & Development Manager is a professional who is responsible for constantly researching content for medical and pharmaceutical science. He/she manages multiple projects. They manage customer complaints, prepare documents and SOPs, observe and form new innovative ideas, plan new revenues for the company, and check for the quality of in-process.
Research & Development Manager Salary
The Research and Development Manager's salary in India ranges between Rs 6.3 lakhs and Rs 24.0 lakhs with an average annual salary of Rs 12.0 lakhs per annum.
Research & Development Manager Roles and Responsibilitie
- Develop and maintains projects and budgets
- Plans risk mitigation with other team members
- Prepares updates, reports, and presentations
- Build strategies to meet the project and regulatory needs
- Collaborates with procurement officer and other team members
- Monitors quality systems and manages non-clinical and CMC service providers
Research & Development Manager Skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Excellent communication and management skills
- Must have commanding research and analytical skills
2. Pharmaceutical Sales Representative
Pharmaceutical Sales Representative is a sales representative who is responsible for building relationships with clients and stakeholders. He/She will look for developing sales of the organizations. They influence the providers to prescribe the medication to patients.
Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Salary
The Pharmaceutical Sales salary in India ranges between Rs 6.3 lakhs and Rs 24.0 lakhs with an average annual salary of Rs 3.8 lakhs per annum.
Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Roles and Responsibilities
- Manages and reviews technical data and documentation
- Analysis and research about the company's products
- Keeps updated themselves with the trending industry information
- Communicates with physicians about their organization's products
- Prepares project updates, presents and reports to clients and stakeholders
Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Skills
- Prepares sales to track records
- Must have scientific knowledge and MS office
- Time Management, negotiation, and sales skills
- Must have management, organizational and communication skills
- Must have knowledge about databases, statics, product lines, medical issues
3. Laboratory Analyst
Laboratory Analyst is a professional who is also known as a lab technologist responsible for conducting experiments and lab tests. Analysis of the results and preparing the observations and report results. He/She collects samples and prepares solutions for sterilizing equipment and testing. Analyze chemical samples and maintain a new and existing inventory of supplies.
Laboratory Analyst Salary
The Laboratory Analyst's salary in India ranges between Rs 1.4 to 6.8 lakhs with an average annual salary of Rs 3.8 lakhs per annum.
Laboratory Analyst Roles and Responsibilities
- Maintains high standard safety in lab
- Laboratory analysts manage lab equipment
- Analyses and tests samples, specimens, and other things
- Involves new testing methods to improve testing strategies
- Analyse clinical trials' test and records the results
- Prepares equipment for testing, sterilising equipment
- Analysis chemical samples and collects data
Laboratory Analyst Skills
- Must have work experience in scientific environment
- Must have knowledge about the use of special equipment
- Must have analytical skills and attention to details
- Computer, management skills, and time management skills
4. Clinical Data Manager
Clinical Data Manager is a professional who is responsible for collecting data from various organizations or projects. Their work includes hospitals, private companies, and government organizations. They look after collecting the data, organizing it, and coordinating all these things. They design strategies and resolve problems with databases.
Clinical Data Manager Salary
A Clinical Data Manager's salary in India ranges between Rs 2.7 to 9.3 lakhs with an average annual salary of Rs 5.0 lakhs per annum.
Clinical Data Manager Roles and Responsibilities
- Solves databases problems
- Trains other employees or staff
- Develops data management plans
- Designs and validates clinical databases
- Collects data from medical research projects
- Analysis trends and makes reports
- Develops technical specifications for data management programs
- Coordinates with clinical research and database analysts in clinical trial databases
Clinical Data Manager Skills
- Must do data analysis
- Must know record keeping skills
- Ability to work flexible and adaptive
- Must have computer and leadership skills
- Must observe and solve the problem of databases
- Must have time management and communication skills
- Must have knowledge about drug development process
5. Medical Writer
Medical Writer is a professional responsible for creating or writing high-quality information and knowledgeable content on healthcare matters. Medical writers write in easy and understandable language to the common people avoiding scientific jargon.
Their work includes reading medical journals, researching trending posts and blogs, writing assignments, collaborating with sales and marketing members, attending conferences, and proofreading their works. Reading PPTs for MRs and doctors, brochures, and medical newsletters.
Medical Writer Salary
A Medical Writer's salary in India ranges between Rs 2.0 to 9.6 lakhs with an average annual salary of Rs 5 lakhs per annum.
Medical Writer Roles and Responsibilities
- Develops clinical trial-related documents
- Brings out data from statistical analysis reports
- Interviews doctors and medical professionals
- Proofreads the final drafts before publishing
- Collaborates with other staff members
- Creates monographs and medical case reports and articles
- Creates promotional materials and drafts stories from research
Medical Writer Skills
- Analysing and research skills
- Must have knowledge about health matter
- Must have time management and communication skills
- Self-motivating and high confidence