The benefits of pharmaceuticals are experienced by people all over the globe. New and life-enhancing medicines are being developed all the time by this fast-moving industry. Pharmaceuticals treat and cure hundreds of diseases and illnesses and everyone of us will go to our Doctor at some point and come away with a prescription that helps us to get better.

The industry produces everything from antibiotics to the contraceptive pill and develops products that treat many common illnesses and ailments from allergies and infections through to asthma and diabetes.  It also continues to pioneer new treatments for many serious and life-threatening diseases including cancer and heart disease. In short, this is an industry that enhances and in some cases prolongs many, many lives all around the world.

The pharmaceuticals industry is also responsible for the safety and effectiveness of the products it manufactures and products go through rigorous tests and trials.

In 2004, pharmaceutical companies in the UK spent £3.2 billion on pharmaceutical research and development - that’s an investment of around £9 million every day. Indeed around a quarter of all UK industry-supported research and development comes from the pharmaceutical industry.

It’s also an industry that needs highly skilled people and there are many and varied careers on offer. Career development in the pharmaceutical industry is well respected and the companies which make up the sector are committed to investing in their people, as it is through their employees’ skills and talents that they are able to be innovative and compete internationally.

Leading UK manufacturing sector

Pharmaceuticals are one of Britain’s leading manufacturing sectors, bringing in a trade surplus of £3.4 billion in 2004. The value of UK pharmaceutical exports in 2005 was £12.2 billion, more than £166,000 per employee. Indeed modern medicines make the third highest contribution to Britain’s trade balance, amounting to some £2 billion a year.

Employees

The UK-based pharmaceutical industry employs around 65,000 people, a quarter of them graduates, with about another 250,000 people employed in related industries. The industry requires managers and leaders, science and technology professionals, process operatives and engineers to remain at the forefront of developments.   

UK success

Nearly 20 per cent of the world's top medicines were discovered and developed in Britain. Twelve out of the top 25 medicines prescribed by GPs on the NHS are British

Regulated Industry

The process needed to manufacture modern medicines is unique and is underpinned by the need to ensure the quality of the products for patients. Pharmaceutical manufacturing is heavily regulated - more than almost any other industry.

Product Development

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) have calculated that it  takes around 10 to 12 years and £550 million to develop a new medicine, with no guarantee that a medicine will go on to be a commercial success. The sector relies on a solid science base and dedicated employees undertaking prolonged research.

*Statistics courtesy of the The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)