E-DRUG: The role of pharmacists in the pharmaceutical industry
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In many countries pharmacists are employed in many sectors of the
pharmaceutical industry because national legislation requires them to be
present (e.g. Europe in the role of the Qualified Person; India as
production managers). However in countries where there is no such
legislation, it is very rare to find pharmacists working in the
pharmaceutical industry (e.g. the United States).
I am seeking input to answer the question:
If there were no legislation requiring the pharmaceutical industry to employ
pharmacists, what justification could be made to the industry to employ a
pharmacist (as opposed to hiring a pharmacologist for toxicity/pharmacology
testing; as opposed to hiring an operations manager to manage production; as
opposed to hiring a chemist to manage the quality control laboratory; as
opposed to hiring a regulatory affairs profession for batch record review
and for dossier filing with the national health authority).
In other words what "value added" does hiring a pharmacist bring to a
pharmaceutical company?
With Best Regards,
Michael Anisfeld
Adjunct Faculty - University of Illinois at Chicago
e-mail: manisfeld@globepharm.org