Navigating career transitions in the Pharmaceutical Industry

The global pharmaceutical market is now worth $1.42 trillion and has grown considerably over the past 20 years. Many view it as a crisis-proof sector, able to weather economic downturns.?

• Industry resilience is one of the many reasons job seekers are drawn to careers in pharma and biotech. There are a wide variety of roles within the industry, whether or not you have a scientific or medical background, including research and discovery, production and manufacturing, regulatory affairs, operations, clinical development, pharmacovigilance, quality assurance and control, medical affairs, sales and marketing, etc.

Candidates can also choose to work for a large, established corporation, smaller startup, trade organization, private company, or somewhere in between. Those interested in transitioning to pharma from a career outside the industry may wonder how to make the move, whether their skills will transfer, and how pharma is different from their current field. Here’s a closer look at some of the various transitions you can make:

Academia to pharma

A switch from academia to pharma may mean fewer grant applications and research papers and more time for hands-on research. Academics who’ve transitioned into pharma also say there’s more opportunity to collaborate with people from diverse roles.

FDA to pharma

Some say there’s a “revolving door” between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and pharma, and a 2016 review supports this idea. Researchers found from 2001 through 2010, 27% of FDA cancer and hematology drug reviewers left the agency to work or consult for pharmaceutical companies.?

Jamie Wilkins has worked for the FDA in various administration and leadership roles, eventually rising to become deputy director of risk management for the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). Through this position, Wilkins gained expertise in risk management on a global scale, including speaking engagements around the world. This sparked a passion in her, but since her work with the FDA was solely focused on the U.S., Wilkins started to consider her next steps.?

“I had to have a conversation with myself that asked, what’s your next goal? Where do you see yourself in five years?” She aspired to have global influence in risk management and knew she would need to leave the FDA to accomplish this. ?A former manager, now working for a global pharmaceutical corporation, had previously approached Wilkins about joining the company. In 2020, “I finally called her and said, '' I think I'm ready to make the leap.”

Today, Wilkins is a risk management leader and continues to share her knowledge during regular speaking engagements. She also started a fellowship program and has participated in multiple international working groups on the COVID-19 vaccine.?

?“I've been afforded the opportunity to pursue my passion,” Wilkins says. “I'm very fulfilled, very happy, and took a risk that paid off tremendously.”

Clinical practice to pharma

For doctors, transitioning to pharma means leaving a conventional clinical environment. But the fast-paced, fluid nature of pharma may be familiar to doctors. The working hours are also similar, but without being on-call for patients.

Transitions within life sciences

If you’re seeking a career change, you may not need to look very far. The variety of roles within pharma can allow you to take your career in a new direction without leaving the industry altogether. A new position could give you a fresh outlook and help you avoid burnout, dissatisfaction, or what some now call “quiet quitting.”

Felicia Ford-Rice has a degree in biology, previously working as a neuropharmacology technician and research technologist. She was exposed to the pharmaceutical industry through these jobs and started to learn more.?She applied for a research scientist role at a pharmaceutical company and was hired on. Her job involved studying how drugs impact the nervous system, and she supervised junior technicians and undergraduate-level interns. Eventually, Ford-Rice became interested in the development side of R&D and was appointed a role in regulatory affairs. She has also held roles in quality assurance and as a consultant.?

Her love of new challenges has motivated Ford-Rice to explore multiple facets of the pharmaceutical industry. “That’s one of the things that drives me. I've never been satisfied with mastering one particular area and staying in that area. My goal has always been to be broad as well as deep.”

Making the transition

If you’re ready to explore a career in pharma, here are some ideas to get you started:

• Be prepared for a different work style. A corporate role may be more fast-moving than your current field. “The pace is different. The expectations are different. And you have to be ready to rise to the occasion,” Wilkins says.
• Explore different roles. Make a list of your skills and research roles where you could apply them. Also, keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need a scientific or medical background to work in pharma. “Pharmaceutical companies need accountants, business support people, and diversity equity and inclusion personnel,” Ford-Rice says. “Don't let not being a scientist be a deterrent.”?
• Highlight your skills. Use LinkedIn and your resume to feature relevant, transferable skills for recruiters and potential employers.?
• Network. This could include finding a pharma mentor, conducting exploratory interviews, and joining a professional organization.?

?Both Wilkins and Ford-Rice are long-time members of Women of Color in Pharma. “It's an organization that has great value,” Wilkins says. “I've been able to find great mentors and peers to bounce ideas off of if I’m struggling with a decision.”

She recommends anyone interested in transitioning to pharma take a chance, even if the result isn’t what you expected. “[It] may not always look exactly how you envisioned but keep your mind open. Take the risk.”