Chapter 46: Pharmacy

Introduction

Pharmacy is a very important component of the medical and health care system. It is the profession concerned with the preparation, distribution and use of drugs and medicines. Members of this profession, called pharmacists, must have a comprehensive knowledge of drugs, including their composition, chemical and physical properties and uses. Pharmacists must also be familiar with the effects of various drugs on health of persons. They must have also a thorough knowledge of procedures for testing drug purity and strength. The word pharmacy is also used to refer to places where drugs are sold. Pharmacies sometimes are called chemists or drug stores. Pharmaceutical industry is concerned with the manufacturing, preparation and marketing of drugs.

It is of enormous importance to the economy and employs a large number of scientists. The increasing complexity of the drug therapy with its potential adverse side-effects along with the danger of drug abuse has brought into focus the important role of pharmacists in the medical and health care system. During the last three decades, the pharmacists have been playing a vital role in pharmaceutical research and industry.

Pharmacy (or more appropriately pharmaceutical science) has a close link with life sciences. Pharmacology is the science of drugs, their discovery, and uses the general aspects of the how and why of drugs. It stands in a central place in the biomedical sciences, with no clear-cut separation from biochemistry, physiology, pathology or microbiology. Knowledge of pharmacology is an essential element in medical practice and is the basis for the discovery of new medicines. The branch of pharmacology relating to poison is toxicology. A major concern of the pharmaceutical companies is that the therapeutic agents they produce have no, or minimal, toxic effects.

The science of toxicology has developed to study the toxic effects of substances which we ingest by choice (drug or food stuffs) as well as those which we are exposed to involuntarily (e.g., environmental pollution). Pharmacognocy is a branch of pharmacology dealing with the study of natural drugs including their botanical sources, constituents and biological, biochemical and economic characteristics. Biotechnology is one of the most exciting application areas in the pharmaceutical industry. The industry will now increasingly rely more on biotechnology rather than on organic chemistry for introducing new drugs. While the pharmaceutical scientists are familiar with much of these areas, it is not only them that are exclusively involved in the research and development, manufacturing, clinical trials and the like. Scientists are also drawn from various other branches of life and chemical sciences for working in this field.

Educational Opportunities

In India, pharmacy education as an academic discipline is of recent origin, although training was imparted primarily for preparing manpower for the tasks of compounding and dispensing medications according to prescriptions written by medical practitioners. They were known as compounders working in hospitals and shops of chemists and druggists. With the increasing availability of ready-to-use medicines, pre-packaged in required doses, the job of compounding and dispensing has become more or less redundant. With the growth of pharmaceutical industry, on the other hand, the need for qualified manpower specialising in pharmaceutical sciences was acutely felt. The focus of pharmacy education, therefore, shifted to preparing higher level manpower to cater to requirements of research and industry, although the need for pharmacists for undertaking routine tasks remained.

The Banaras Hindu University, which introduced the degree programme in pharmacy (B. Pharm) in 1932, is one of the pioneers in promoting pharmacy education in India. Today pharmacy education is provided at four levels: (1) diploma (D.Pharm), (2) first degree (B.Pharm), (3) post-graduate degree (M.Pharm) and (4) doctoral degree (Ph.D). In 1948, the Pharmacy Act was passed to regulate the Pharmacy Council of India (along with State Pharmacy Councils) to regulate the profession of pharmacists and pharmacy education. No institutions can be established for imparting pharmacy education without the prior approval of both the Pharmacy Council of India and the All India Council of Technical Education (See Chapter 7 – Regulatory Authorities).

The diploma courses are offered by pharmacy colleges and also by polytechnics. The course is of two-year duration and the eligibility requirement for admission is pass in Class 10/10+2 examination. As of December 31, 1997, there were 343 institutions offering the D.Pharm Course, with an intake capacity of 18,212. Maharashtra (66) and Karnataka (73) States account for nearly 40% of the institutions. Diploma holders are eligible for direct admission to the second year of B.Pharm course. The diploma courses are likely to be phased out soon.

The First degree course (B.Pharm) is offered by university departments of pharmacy and pharmacy colleges affiliated to universities. In the States where there are medical universities (e.g., Karnataka, Tamil Nadu), the pharmacy colleges are affiliated to them. The eligibility requirement for admission is a pass in 10+2 examination with biology as one of the subjects. Some universities specify minimum marks (aggregates) in the 10+2 examination. In some States, the selection is made on the basis of the results of common entrance tests. According to the AICTE website, the number of institutions offering B.Pharm course is about 197 with an intake capacity of 9,657.

The postgraduate degree (M.Pharm) needs one and a half years to two years of study after obtaining the B.Pharm degree. Some universities require valid GATE score for admission. M.Pharm courses offer specialisations in several branches (See Annexure 2). M.Pharm courses are available in about 37 institutions. Doctoral programmes (Ph.D) are offered by about 24 institutions, mostly the University Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences. An illustrative list of institutions offering B.Pharm, M.Pharm and Ph.D courses is given in Annexure 1).

In view of the growing importance of the pharmaceutical industry following the globalisation of the Indian economy, a separate institution, National Institution of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) (Sector 67, S A S Nagar, Mohali, 160062 Punjab), has been established as an institution of national importance by an Act of Parliament. It is a centre of excellence for higher training and research and development in pharmaceutical science and technology. It offers only Master and Ph.D courses in Departments of Pharmaceutics, Medicinal Chemistry, Natural Products, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Technology. There are only 42 seats in 8 programmes (M.Pharm and Ph.D) (See Annexure 3)

A small number of institutions have introduced pharmacy-related courses at the postgraduate level in other university departments. In some of these courses, B.Pharm degree holders are also eligible for admission. Some examples are: M.Sc (Medical Biochemistry, Medical Microbiology, Medical Pharmacology)-Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576119, (ii) M.Sc (Pharmaceutical Chemistry)-Sardar Bhawan Singh Post Graduate Institute of Biolodical Sciences and Research, Balawala, Dehra Dun-248161, (iii) M.Sc (Medical Biotechnology) Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh-160012; (iv) M.Sc (Tech)-Pharmaceutical Chemistry-Lucknow University; (v) M.Sc (Drug Assay)-All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi-110029. M.Sc in Pharmacology is offered by more than 10 universities (See Annexure 4) In addition, a number of medical colleges offer MD (Pharmacology) which is open only to MBBS degree holders.

In the area of Ayurveda Medicine, the Institute of Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Science of the Gujarat Ayurveda University offers five courses in pharmaceutical science: (i) Diploma in Pharmacy (Ayurveda) of two-year duration (ii) Bachelor of Pharmacy (Ayurveda) of four-year duration; (iii) M.Pharm (Ayurveda) of two-year duration, (iv) PG Diploma in Medicinal plants of one-year duration, and (v) M.Sc (Medicinal Plants) of two-year duration. Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (Kaladi-683574) offers Master of Pharmaceutical Science (MPSc) open to two-year diploma course Ayurvedic Drug Standardisation.

Eligibility requirement is BAMS degree. Gulbarga University also has an M.Sc course in Medicinal Plants. In the field of homoeopathy; the Government Homoeopahty Medical College (Thirumangalam-626706 Tamil Nadu) offers a two-year diploma course in pharmacy (Homoeopathy). At least two institutions now offer courses in pharmaceutical management: Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy (Bangalore-560027)-M.Pharm (Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management), and SIES College (Plot No.1-E, Sector-V, Nerul, Navi Mumbai-400706)-Postgraduate Diploma in Pharmaceutical Management (Duration-Two years. Eligibility: B.Sc Degree).

Career Opportunities

Apart from working as pharmacists in hospitals, career opportunities exist in pharmaceutical industry, research institutions, and teaching. The Pharmaceutical industry has made long strides in the last two decades. Indian companies are actually low-cost producers of bulk drugs. The country is now self-sufficient to a great extent in terms of its domestic requirements of pharmaceutical products. Most of the bulk drugs required for formulations are now made in the country. About 80% of the bulk drug production worth Rs.2,000 crore is exported. India also exports 45% of Rs.9,200 crore formulation business which actually makes the pharmaceutical industry a significant foreign exchange earner.

With the proposed amendment of the Patents Act, 1970 which envisages a change in the existing process patent system of seven years, foreign investment in this sector is likely to increase. The R & D expenditure is around Rs.185 crore accounting for a mere 2% of total sales as against 15-20% in developed countries. There is, however, a visible thrust in the R & D area both in the industry and government research laboratories. There are at present nearly 20,000 manufacturing units in the country. It is only the top 10 companies which have a market share of nearly 33%.

In the pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy graduates can get jobs in the areas of sales and marketing (medical representatives) and production departments in different capacities. Corporate hospitals also provide job opportunities. Employment in R & D area both in the industry and research institutions needs postgraduate and doctoral degrees. Pharmacy teachers also require such qualifications.