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New Trends in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industries
By M.V. Greene
"The need for a trained workforce at all levels from an
associate's degree to a Ph.D. is critical for the United States to
retain supremacy in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals."
- Dr.
Kathleen Kennedy, vice president of education and training at the North
Carolina Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
 Disparities in healthcare that
disproportionately affect African Americans and other minority group
populations are a well-known fact of life. Consider that African
Americans have the highest mortality rate of any racial and ethnic group
for all cancers combined, have the highest rate of high blood pressure
in the world, are nearly twice as likely as whites to suffer from
diabetes, and accounted for 49 percent of U.S. cases of HIV infection
diagnosed in 2005.The biotechnology and pharmaceutical
industries – more closely linked today than ever – are at the vanguard
in addressing these anomalies through gene discovery – the realm of
biotechnology – and the identification and manufacture of new drugs –
the realm of pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Jerry L. Bryant, who has a Ph.D. in
molecular biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is
director of Science Education Initiatives for the United Negro College
Fund Inc. in Fairfax, Va., said the biotechnology and pharmaceutical
industries beckon young African Americans. The UNCF collaborates with
pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. to increase the ranks of
African-American researchers and scientists in biotechnology and
pharmaceuticals.
A December 2007 report from the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a Washington-based
industry association, noted that pharmaceutical research companies are
testing 691 new medicines to help treat diseases that disproportionately
affect African Americans or diseases that are among the leading causes
of death among African Americans. The group's president and CEO, Billy
Tauzin, said the developing medicines "offer hope for closing the
troubling health gap" impacting African Americans.
Bryant said pharmaceutical companies "need
diversity of thought at the earliest levels" in the drug development
process.
Biotechnology is more than a $40
billion-a-year industry that has produced more than 160 drugs and
vaccines, according to the Biotechnology Institute, an Arlington, Va.,
national industry group founded by the biotechnology community in 1998
to educate teachers, students and the public about the promise and
challenges of biotechnology.At the other end of biotechnology is the
mature pharmaceutical segment. Pharmaceutical
and medicine manufacturing have produced medicinal and health-related
products "undreamed of by even the most imaginative apothecaries of the
past," according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks
labor and economic developments of U.S. industries. In contrast to
biotechnology, the majority of pharmaceutical firms are involved in the
final stages of the lengthy process of drug development.
The Biotechnology Institute offers a
snapshot of the growing industry and its potential for solving human
health, food and environmental problems. More than 370 biotech drug
products and vaccines are currently in clinical trials targeting more
than 200 diseases, including cancers, Alzheimer's disease, heart
disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and arthritis. Additionally, more than 1,470 biotechnology
companies operate in the United States. The U.S. biotechnology industry
grew from an $8 billion industry in 1992 to one with revenues surpassing
to $39.2 billion in 2003. The industry employed 198,300 people through
2003, according to the Biotechnology Institute.Stephen Keith, M.D., M.P.H., president and
chief operating officer of Panacea Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Gaithersburg,
Md., biotechnology company, calls the industry vibrant and exciting.
Keith, whose company is developing novel cancer therapeutics and
diagnostics, said biotech is an industry that demands scientific
excellence.
Keith's company illustrates how a pure
biotechnology company is on the way to transforming itself into the
larger pharmaceutical industry through drug discovery and product
development."Biotechnology is dedicated toward
developing products that are going to save lives and improve the health
of individuals and families in the United States and around the world.
So, it's a little bit more important than a company that's making potato
chips. You have to have that commitment and dedication," Keith said.
As with many scientific fields,
biotechnology demands increased participation from African-American
researchers, scientists and other professionals, Keith said. A December
2006 report from the National Science Foundation put the number of
African Americans studying a science discipline at the graduate level in
the United States during 2005 at 21,876 – from a pool of 358,309 total
students vying for master's degrees and doctorates. In the biological
sciences, which include specialties such as biochemistry, biosciences,
cell biology and pharmacology, 2,980 African Americans were enrolled in
graduate programs in 2005.
Keith, who received his medical degree from
the University of Illinois in 1977, said African Americans with advanced
degrees can find a wealth of career opportunities in biotechnology.
"We're looking first for a dedication to science and discovery and
product development in whatever role that you play," Keith said.
"Working under the microscope in research is only one particular facet
of biotechnology. Biotech companies need people who are in finance,
marketing and sales, human resources, manufacturing, securities
management and construction. These are all ways to get into the
industry."
The U.S.
pharmaceutical industry has been at the forefront of drug development
worldwide, the BLS noted. Thousands of medications have been developed
through the pharmaceutical industry for diagnostic, preventive and
therapeutic uses in the treatment of infectious diseases such as
pneumonia, tuberculosis, malaria and influenza and chronic maladies like
cardiovascular disease, asthma, diabetes and hepatitis.
 "These drugs save the
lives of millions of people from various diseases and permit many ill
people to recover to lead normal lives," the BLS said.
About 2,500 firms
operate in the industry, led by Fortune 500 companies including Johnson
& Johnson, Pfizer and Merck. In developing new drugs, pharmaceutical
firms work with bulk chemicals and botanicals used in making finished
drugs. These firms provided 292,000 wage and salary jobs in 2006. Nearly
90 percent of this industry's jobs in 2006 were in establishments that
employed more than 100 workers. Most jobs are in California, Illinois,
Texas, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania,
according to the BLS.
About 28 percent of
all jobs in the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry are
in professional and related occupations, mostly scientists and science
technicians. About 16 percent are in management occupations, another 13
percent are in office and administrative support, and 3 percent are in
sales and related occupations. About 3 out of 10 jobs in the industry
are in production occupations, including both low skilled and high
skilled jobs.
The number of wage
and salary jobs in pharmaceuticals is expected to increase by 24 percent
over the 2006-2016 period, compared with an 11 percent projected
increase for all other industries combined, the BLS said.
The combination of
the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries will lead to the
development of many new drugs in coming years, the BLS said. Advances in
technology and cell manipulation will allow pharmaceutical and medicine
manufacturing makers to become more efficient in the drug discovery
process. New technologies give scientists
the tools to test drug candidates more rapidly than in the past.
Areas that have become hotbeds of research,
business development and new product launches include the Research
Triangle region near the cities of Raleigh and Durham, N.C.; the I-270
Technology Corridor in Montgomery and Frederick counties in Maryland;
the Route 128 Corridor in Massachusetts and the San Francisco Bay Area
in California.
Dr. Kathleen Kennedy, vice president of
education and training at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in
Research Triangle Park, N.C., said African Americans are employed
throughout the North Carolina biotech industry, the third largest
biotech region in the country and projected to have the fastest rate of
growth for biopharmaceutical and manufacturing jobs through 2014.
Kennedy assists in developing biotechnology-related curriculum
materials, advises colleges on biotechnology education and tracks
biotechnology workforce training needs.
"The need for a trained workforce at all
levels from an associate's degree to a Ph.D. is critical for the United
States to retain supremacy in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals,"
Kennedy said.
Bryant added that the advent of
globalization is fueling demand for researchers, scientists and others
to join the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. "We live in a
global and diverse economy now. When you try to deal with countries that
are minority from the United States' perspective, they want to see
somebody that looks like them at the table. We have to develop a better
track record in training all students to participate in the STEM
(science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields, not just some,"
Bryant said.
Bryant said biotechnology and pharmaceutical
companies and other organizations in the field understand the imperative
to attract minorities to the field. The United Negro College Fund
operates the UNCF-Merck Science Initiative with Merck for just that
purpose. Since 1995, the initiative has provided fellowships annually to
37 promising science students, offering financial support, hands-on
training, mentoring and institutional support. Additionally, the Merck
Institute for Science Education supports teachers at the elementary
school level to introduce novel science approaches to their young
students.
"We have to come to grips with the
understanding that science really begins in elementary school. That's
your first opportunity to create an interest and a sense that it's OK
for students to learn science. If you wait until they get to high
school, it is almost too late," Bryant said.Additionally, federal agencies like the
National Institutes of Health, National Institute for Allergy and
Infectious Diseases and the Vaccine Research Center have mandates to
eliminate health disparities among minorities, and have programs that
seek out African-American scientists and researchers. The NIH Black
Scientists Association has established a professional support network
for Black scientists in order to promote their research activities.
Dr. Chad Womack, president, executive
director and co-founder of the National Association for Blacks in BIO,
said barriers that have conspired to inhibit the advancement of Blacks
in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals are starting to be broken.
Womack, co-founder, president and chief
scientific officer of NanoVec LLC in Philadelphia, an early stage
company that is developing nanotechnology-based solutions for next
generation vaccines and immunotherapeutics against biodefense,
infectious diseases and cancer, said he was fortunate to have received
mentoring and direction as his scientific career was nurtured at the
Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, where he earned his doctorate.
"There is clearly a demand for young
talent in bio-life sciences, but science is hard. It's not an easy
discipline to be involved with. It does require a lot of motivation and
focus, but also a lot of hands-on from mentors and people who care about
you," said Womack, who has a role in academia as an assistant professor
in the Department of Microbiology at the Howard University College of
Medicine.
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