There’s a broad range of work in the pharmaceuticals sector. This includes drug manufacturing and development work, such as classic pharmaceuticals like prescribed medicines, biopharmaceuticals (like vaccines), medical technology and consumer business much like over-the- counter medicines.

Singapore is also widely acknowledged as a top-rated clinical and biomedical research and development (R&D) centre in Asia, with a growing pharmaceutical field – in spite of overall reductions in the manufacturing industry as a whole.

Its continued growth and highly advanced status have managed to attract leading biomedical companies such as GSK and Novartis, which contribute to a highly innovative and competitive industry landscape.

Pharmaceutical behemoth Sanofi Pasteur will be investing $638 million over the course of five years and building a vaccine production centre in Singapore. The local government also formed the Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC) in 2019 to better integrate and organise the country’s pharmaceuticals ecosystem, and it has paid off – the industry is now worth an estimated $1.6 billion!

Career overview

Pharmaceutical engineers are mostly engaged in the research and manufacturing of prescriptions and products. However, they may also work alongside pharmacists and chemists to develop active medicinal ingredients before synthesising them into consumable products, or maintain and optimise pharmaceutical production facilities.

Projects involving pharmaceutical engineers typically have long timescales, ranging from seven to 10 years to develop a product, run clinical trials and launch it to the public. Despite the length of the projects, though, less than 10 per cent of products put on trial ever make it to the market.

This is because the industry is heavily regulated, and one of the side effects is that the rate of change is slow, though it can also be fast-paced and demanding at times, such as the race to find a vaccination to the Covid-19 virus.

On a lighter note, however, as most pharmaceutical companies tend to be global giants, pharmaceutical engineers have the opportunity to work anywhere in the world.

Trends and developments

Globally, the pharmaceutical sector is under pressure to make medication more affordable to patients in lower-income brackets and countries. Thus, companies are now investing in improving production efficiency and yields via automation to keep costs to patients low while still maintaining profit margins.

Constant regulatory updates on drug manufacturing quality is also another challenge that organisations face, and engineers are indispensable in the face of developing increasingly sophisticated production line monitoring and measurement systems in order to maintain higher production standards.

As there’s also an increased consumer demand for lifestyle- and age-related illness medication, focus on gene research and vaccine development has also heightened and led to trending growth in the production of biopharmaceutical and biological medical products worldwide.

Career highlights

Making a positive impact

Pharmaceutical engineers are able to directly contribute to the betterment of people’s health as well as help improve quality of life.

A dynamic industry

Graduates have the opportunity to work in a rapidly-evolving field that encourages adoption of advanced medical technology, new products development and effective manufacturing strategies. They may even have the chance to work on developing cutting-edge technology never exploited before!

Wide exposure

Because project teams are made up of different disciplines – research is the purview of scientists and chemical engineers, while engineers from other disciplines and more corporate positions are involved in industrialisation and commercialisation – there’s a high level of exposure that translates into chances to learn about other departments and disciplines.

Required skills

• Able to take on high levels of responsibility
• Able to work in a fast-paced environment
• Able to work in a team
• Accountability
• Adaptability
• Patience (as projects have long timescales)
• Solid interpersonal skills
• Time management skills