Master of Science (MSc) in Pharmaceutical Sciences (GB)

Behind all new drugs lies a good idea, a discovery, or a hypothesis. Drug Discovery deals with this early phase where scientists are hunting for new effective pharmaceutical substances.

The objective is to discover or synthesise new chemical or biological compounds and to map their therapeutic but also possible unwanted effects in animals and people. 

In the discovery phase, work is often conducted in research groups that include experts in pharmacology and medicinal chemistry, among others.

Professional profiles

With Drug Discovery as a basis, you can continue in a professional position within drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry, or in a PhD programme at PharmaSchool. 

The Drug Discovery track provides the opportunity for various professional profiles, such as:

Pharmacology

Within pharmacology, you focus on the part of the discovery phase that involves biological/pharmacological topics such as identification and validation of new drug targets.

This work includes elucidating the mode of action of the drug substance, and investigating its effect on cloned receptors in test tubes, cell cultures, isolated organs and/or laboratory animals that mimic a specific human disease.

All of these efforts aim at predicting the therapeutic effect of novel compounds in humans. 

Medicinal Chemistry

Within medicinal chemistry, you focus on the part of the discovery phase, which involves chemical techniques such as design and synthesis of new chemical compounds.

The purpose is partly to identify potential drug substances and partly to optimise the pharmacological activity and selectivity of the compounds.

Work in this phase of drug discovery also involves improvement of the physicochemical properties of the compounds so that they will become potential drug substances with optimal characteristics.

Biopharmaceuticals

Within biopharmaceuticals, you will gain knowledge on how biopharmaceuticals behave in vivo and how to handle major challenges regarding biostability, bioavailability, pharmacokinetics and toxicity.

Biopharmaceuticals deals with chemical modification and state of the art protein engineering.

The active ingredient in biopharmaceuticals is in general a biological macromolecule and imitation of endogenous compounds with high activity and specificity combined with low toxicity.

Macromolecules have distinct physical and physicochemical properties compared to small molecules. Hence, understanding the pharmaceutical development of biopharmaceuticals requires specific skills and a different way of thinking.

There is a continuous development of new chemical substances that act effectively on their targets, such as brain receptors.

However, most of them are useless as drugs because they will never reach their target in the organism. They degrade or metabolise too quickly, or they cannot penetrate biological barriers and reach the tissue they need to affect, such as brain tissue.

Advanced analytical chemistry is an integral part of drug development. When pharmaceutical scientists know the chemistry of substances, how they interact with the body, and how they are metabolised and eliminated, they can develop drugs that release the right amount of active substance at the right point in the right place in the body.

Professional profiles

The Drug Development track provides the opportunity for various professional profiles, such as::

Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery

Within pharmaceutics and drug delivery, you focus on the development of the drug formulation. Many drug substances cannot be absorbed directly in the body. In a therapeutic context, other drug substances are absorbed in the wrong places and, therefore, have no effect or perhaps even a harmful effect.

This is where formulation experts are relevant with their knowledge of relevant drug formulations, their understanding of drug chemistry, and their knowledge about how the body absorbs different substances.

Interdisciplinary work involves the areas of chemistry, physiology, and pharmacology in order to find a formulation – a composition – that can put the substance on the right track in the organism. 

Biopharmaceuticals

Within biopharmaceuticals, you learn how biopharmaceuticals are formulated as solutions, suspensions, and freeze thawed preparations.

You also gain insights into new promising ways to administer these drugs non-parenterally. In addition, you get hands-on experience on how to produce, analyse, identify, handle and work with proteins in the correct way.

The active ingredient in biopharmaceuticals is in general a biological macromolecule and imitation of endogenous compounds with high activity and specificity combined with low toxicity.

Macromolecules have distinct physical and physicochemical properties compared to small molecules. Hence, understanding the pharmaceutical development of biopharmaceuticals requires specific skills and a different way of thinking.

Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry

Within Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry, you focus on investigating how the active substance releases from the drug, absorbs and distributes in the body, and how it is eliminated.

Very rapid elimination or conversion to metabolites can mean that a potential drug must be abandoned in the development process.

Detailed knowledge of metabolism and metabolites is a prerequisite for optimising the properties of the drug and selecting the ideal formulation.

Investigations are most often done by determining metabolites in biological material, such as, blood, serum, or urine samples from animals and humans. This detective work requires advanced analytical chemical techniques, which enables you to separate and identify the metabolites.

Medicines have enormous impact on the people and societies that use them.

When new medicinal compounds are approved for the Danish market, their efficacy and safety must be documented in clinical trials. This is done to ensure, that patients and society get the most effective, safest and cheapest drugs.

Additionally, knowledge of the correct use of drugs is essential to avoid overuse, misuse or other irrational use. Information and communication are vital factors here. 

Professional profiles

The Medicines and Society track provides the opportunity for various professional profiles, such as:

Clinical Development

Within clinical development, you focus on investigating the effect of drugs on healthy research subjects and on groups of patients under controlled conditions.

The controlled clinical trial is the gold standard for this process and provides the basic documentation for the efficacy and adverse effect profile of a drug.

Regulatory Affairs

Within regulatory affairs, you focus on registration strategies as well as on guiding and coordinating drug development.

The regulatory authorities have stringent requirements for the efficacy and quality of medicines. Before a new medicinal product is approved, companies must document that their product meets these many requirements.

People working with regulatory affairs are responsible for submitting documentation and for the communication between the authorities and companies.

Social Pharmacy

Within social pharmacy, you focus on the position of medicines in society; this includes the use of drugs, the financial elements and healthcare policies.

The perspectives of both patients and of the healthcare services on the use of drugs are central. Key topics are marketing, economics, distribution, communication, compliance (the extent to which patients follow the instructions given), monitoring (control and supervision), and the individualisation of drug use.

Pamela Wilson, with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, has chosen  Drug Discovery as her area of specialisation within the MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The search for new drug candidates is often carried out in uncharted territory. In what can be a nerve-wracking and dramatic ’drug hunt’, a research team gradually moves in on an active substance that must be isolated, further developed and tested. I want to be there when the exploration begins, which is why I selected Drug Discovery. It is exciting to work with drug development at an early stage when it is often crucial to get a really good idea that is perhaps a bit untraditional.

I see it as a huge strength that students working on their master’s degree in the pharmaceutical sciences have widely different academic backgrounds. And we who come from foreign universities also have other approaches to the material. There is a great deal of synergy in the programme and group projects and presentations provide good opportunities for us to bring our different backgrounds into play. It can provide the catalyst for creative thinking that is necessary when you’re the first link in the chain.

Dialogue and discussion

I have never been in doubt about my choice of Drug Discovery, even though there are also interesting subjects in the other two areas of programme specialisation. It is great that the framework is so flexible that you can plan an individual course of study. At the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences you get your hands dirty from day one. In the USA theory and laboratory practice are strictly separate, but here they merge and there are lots of hands-on projects that give us a greater understanding of the subject. For example a course like drug formulation is unique and has been an important part of building my academic foundation. There is also a lot of freedom in Danish laboratories and classrooms – you discuss with your teachers and there is room to think for yourself. 

"I want to be there when the exploration begins, which is why I selected Drug Discovery. It is exciting to work with drug development at an early stage when it is often crucial to get a really good idea that is perhaps a bit untraditional.

Pamela Wilson

Mentor scheme opens doors

The programme provides good job opportunities for me back home in the USA, but I would like to stay in Denmark after I graduate. I dream of a research position in one of Medicon Valley’s many pharmaceutical companies. The innovative environment in the Oeresund region provides good opportunities to share knowledge. And the Scandinavian healthcare system in which everyone is registered is a perfect framework for developing clinical trials.  

I have been assigned a mentor through the University of Copenhagen. She works in protein research at Novo Nordisk A/S, which gives me insight into the Danish job market. The network can help open some doors for me in future as well. My thesis project will be about designing semi-synthetic proteins, and I have already made an agreement with the research group in chemical biology at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Dynamic student environment

I came to Copenhagen for the first time as an exchange student while I was working on my bachelor’s degree, and I was sold. Copenhagen is a lovely and dynamic city – big and little at the same time. It is easy to get around, but there are masses of cultural and recreational options. Copenhagen is also a beautiful city with centuries of history. Just recently I saw a postcard that read: University of Copenhagen founded in 1479 – Columbus discovered America 13 years later. That really made me laugh!

Javohirhon Turaev, with a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources from the University of Copenhagen, has chosen Drug Development as his area of specialisation.

In my native country, Uzbekistan, drug discovery and drug development – including clinical trials – are more or less absent from our drug industry, which is primarily concerned with copy medicine production, sales and marketing. In contrast, here in Medicon Valley the opportunities in the drug-related area are almost infinite – and if you want to work in research and the development of new drugs, this is where it is happening.

Unique academic profile

While I have chosen Drug Development as my area of programme specialisation, I am also interested in drug discovery – which is one of the reasons I decided to take a pharmacology course from that line. The master’s programme in Pharmaceutical Sciences is very flexible, which really appeals to me. I don’t think any two graduates will end up having had exactly the same academic profile, because you can tailor one that is unique. Teachers are open and sympathetic to the idea of new and different courses of study.  

"The master’s programme in Pharmaceutical Sciences is very flexible, which really appeals to me. I don’t think any two graduates will end up having had exactly the same academic profile, because you can tailor one that is unique. Teachers are open and sympathetic to the idea of new and different courses of study.

Javohirhon Turaev

I applied to other faculties that were ready to offer me a full scholarship, but I decided to study at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences instead. It’s my future. I am passionate about the drug area, and with a degree from the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, I am certain that I will be employable – in Denmark as well as abroad.

Crazy about physical chemistry

I am crazy about physical chemistry and my favourite subject is drug synthesis, something I would really like to explore in my thesis project, but drug delivery is exciting too. What happens to a drug after ingestion? How do we get the drug substance released at the exact place in the body where we want it to work? How is the substance absorbed in the organism – and how long is it effective? We work in the areas of chemistry, physiology and pharmacology to find a formulation – a composition – that will keep the drug substance on the right track in the organism.

In many ways chemistry is my academic starting point, but I have become more of a biologist underway. Because the molecules I work with are intended to influence human brain receptors, there is always focus on the link between chemistry and biology. 

Future in a lively drug industry

I hope I’ll be able to write my thesis in cooperation with Lundbeck A/S – because I’m interested in the small molecules that pave the way for drugs to treat diseases of the central nervous system such as Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia and depression. I have always been interested in plants, which is interesting in this connection, because it is often in the plant world we find inspiration for the micro molecules that work in the brain.

In the long term I dream about starting my own company, and because the industry still sends up shoots here in the Copenhagen area, I believe that it will some day be possible. A lively drug industry also provides good opportunities for student jobs. I work for Novozymes in a department that develops and produces industrial enzymes for laundry detergent. I also spend a few hours a week working for CMC Biologics A/S, an international company that makes antibodies among other things.

Niels Højsgaard Jørgensen, with a bachelor’s degree in Nanotechnology from the University of Copenhagen, has chosen Medicines and Society as his area of specialisation.

My aim is to put together a master’s programme that combines the natural and social sciences, and my ambition is to be the link between the real world and science.

I became interested in biochemistry early on as an undergraduate and I wrote my final project on protein chemistry. At almost the same time I got a job as a student counsellor, where communication skills were crucial, and I had to draw on my understanding of human nature and ability to resolve conflicts. I really liked the challenge and started to dream about an education that would allow me to combine the natural sciences with communication and administrative skills. 

Window to the world

I’m keenly interested in clinical trials, and I have taken many elective courses in clinical research. It is super that students at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences can work so closely with industry.  For example, in the course on pharmacokinetics, we made theoretical calculations on the possible effect of drugs in the body. Later a scientist from industry visited the class and showed us that they use exactly the same methods. That direct coupling to the real world is really effective.

My individually tailored curriculum includes marketing, which has also given me insight about the many players on the drug scene. There is no reason to hold back. There is a wealth of opportunity to follow your own ideas in building an interesting curriculum – and there are academic advisers to guide you on your way.

"I’m keenly interested in clinical trials, and I have taken many elective courses in clinical research. It is super that students at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences can work so closely with industry.  For example, in the course on pharmacokinetics, we made theoretical calculations on the possible effect of drugs in the body.

Niels Højsgaard Jørgensen

Medicine use by pregnant women

I will be writing my thesis in cooperation with Copenhagen University Hospital on medicine use by pregnant women. New drugs are almost always tested on healthy young men, which is why we don’t know much about the consequences of pregnant women’s medicine consumption. My job will be to extract statistical data from the hospitals’ databases in order to obtain an overview of how much prescription medicine pregnant women take nationwide. The project is right down my alley – I’ll be getting a mountain of numbers to crunch, but it will be possible to draw some social science conclusions from the results. 

The drug industry is the most highly regulated industry in the world after aviation. I have an interesting and relevant student job at Sandoz, the international drug company, where I handle the registration of unintended drug reactions. After I graduate, I would also like to work with clinical monitoring. That means monitoring clinical trials all over the world, having contact with the doctors conducting the trials and making sure that everything is being done for the benefit of the patient.  

Student politics

I’ve been interested in student politics for years, and have continued my involvement at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. It has been a real pleasure to work with academic staff and my fellow students on the structure of the programmes and research strategy for the future. I have been at the table with the Study Board as well as the Academic Council.

The experience has been very positive, even though I have a different academic background than most of the others. There is good teamwork at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the advisory bodies take a highly professional approach to their work. There is plenty of opportunity to influence programme content.

Nanna Feldborg Mortensen works in clinical development at Novo Nordisk A/S. Nanna has a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Southern Denmark and earned her MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2008.

I got my job five days before I got my master’s degree – and now I’m part of the Global Development Graduate Programme here at Novo Nordisk. The company encourages selected natural science graduate students to take a two-year position that will guide them through all of the stages of the long process involved in developing a new drug.

Direct access to industry

I wanted a master’s programme that would provide direct access to the drug industry, so I moved to Copenhagen to study at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

My starting point was the  Drug Discovery line, but I also took many elective courses from the Medicines and Society line. The programme is so flexible that you can combine elements from various disciplines.

I was crazy about long-haired science, basic research and laboratory work – but I also wanted to work with clinical development. Today I have my spotlight on phase 1 studies, a relatively early stage of the drug development process, but where there is still room for surprises.

World traveller in clinical studies

During my two years as a Graduate here in the company, I rotated between various departments. The first eight months I worked in Regulatory Affairs here in Copenhagen, and in 2009 I spent seven months with a subsidiary in the USA. I was a local trial manager, the title for someone in charge of a clinical trial for a selected drug. Now I’m back in Denmark working with international trial management – and have just returned from a short trip to Hong Kong, where I monitored and advised on a large clinical study.

"At the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences you are in close contact with reality and it is my impression that drug industry management values graduates in pharmaceutical sciences precisely because their education is targeted at a career in the pharmaceutical industry. 

Nanna Feldborg Mortensen

The programme will prepare me for a position as an international trial manager based in Denmark. I’ll be monitoring and coordinating clinical studies all over the world. The position means a certain amount of travel, which suits me fine.

I’ll also meet many different people and communicate worldwide. There are a variety of nationalities at my workplace, so globalisation goes on in house, you might say. In the long-term I would like to be more involved with strategic management regarding future drug development.

Targeted education

I wrote my thesis on haemostasis pharmacology in cooperation with Novo Nordisk. My project was to describe a new animal model for research in a specific type of haemophilia.

I work in a completely different area now, but it has been a big advantage for me to get to know the company so well. I was able to establish a good network with managers and colleagues already while I was a student. At the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences you are in close contact with reality and it is my impression that drug industry management values graduates in pharmaceutical sciences precisely because their education is targeted at a career in the pharmaceutical industry.  

Grith Krøyer Wood, age 31, is a formulation chemist at Statens Serum Institut. Grith has a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and earned her MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences with  as her area of Drug Development specialisation.

I am certain that my master’s in Pharmaceutical Sciences gives me a solid platform for an exciting career. I get the distinct impression from talking to colleagues that I made a good decision when I added a master’s in pharmaceutical sciences to my engineering degree.  

My original plan was to get a master’s in civil engineering. My main interest is medicine and drugs and therefore I wanted to take as many electives as possible at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. While I was searching for electives on the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences’ site, I discovered their master’s programme. Suddenly here were all the courses I was looking for, so I applied to the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences instead of taking the engineering route.

Drugs in focus and quality as second nature

The chemical engineering programme studies many different substances, anything from paint and plastic to ketchup. In contrast, all of the courses at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences are focused on drugs. That is a major strength for students who already know they want jobs in the pharmaceutical industry.  

Another difference that struck me right away is that quality assurance is integrated into all the courses at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. That provides an extra dimension and has equipped me well for work in the drug industry, where there is heavy focus on quality assurance. I am so used to working with the quality assurance aspect of drugs that it has become second nature.

"One of my responsibilities is to produce and investigate tuberculosis vaccines for pre-clinical and clinical trials. Here in the vaccine development department, we follow vaccines from early development to clinical testing.

Grith Krøyer Wood

Fast-track from thesis to job

My supervisor at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences helped me make a thesis agreement with Statens Serum Institut. My thesis topic was about vaccine research and dealt with protein binding to liposomes and lipid layers.  

I was offered a job at Statens Serum Institut as an extension of my thesis. I work here now as a formulation chemist in vaccine development. One of my responsibilities is to produce and investigate tuberculosis vaccines for pre-clinical and clinical trials. Here in the vaccine development department, we follow vaccines from early development to clinical testing.

Typical of our work is upscaling and finding a stable formulation for a promising vaccine or vaccine component from the research department. In our department we develop and optimise methods and analyses to make the product profitable in production. Statens Serum Institut is a workplace that allows you to handle many different tasks, and I really appreciate the variation that comes from switching between laboratory work and paperwork.

Well prepared for the future

I can’t really say exactly where I will be in 10 years, but right now I see a future in which I am working in drug development or production. Statens Serum Institut has a very exciting research and development environment that offers many different career opportunities, so I certainly have a wealth of opportunities for development right here at my current workplace.