How to become an excellent developer of new biological drugs

The vigorous development of biopharmaceutical industry also provides a lot of employment opportunities for young researchers The biopharmaceutical industry is in its infancy, and a large number of scientific researchers with professional disease knowledge and technical ability are urgently needed to join the industry and engage in new drug development A recently approved cholesterol lowering drug has added a new member to the long list of blockbuster biopharmaceuticals These superstar biopharmaceuticals not only create amazing profits for pharmaceutical companies, but also provide a large number of jobs and opportunities for young researchers who are interested in new drug development However, if these young talents want to join the ranks, they must first temper themselves and equip themselves with all kinds of knowledge and skills necessary for the biopharmaceutical industry Biopharmaceuticals are very complex drugs, which are usually produced by or extracted from organisms For example, products such as proteins expressed by fungal cells such as Escherichia coli or yeast, other macromolecules or living cells According to a report submitted by the pharmaceutical research and manufacturers of America, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., in 2013, 907 kinds of biological drugs are in the research stage in the United States alone (medicine in development: biology Pharma; 2013) Pharmaceutical companies around the world are also trying to develop their own biopharmaceutical business In July this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the listing of alirocumab, a new cholesterol lowering drug developed by Sanofi Another similar drug, evolocumab, has passed the preliminary FDA evaluation in June this year and is expected to be approved for listing later this year These drugs are PCSK9 inhibitors, and they are also the most successful drugs among a large number of newly developed products of the two pharmaceutical giants Both alirocumab and evolocumab belong to the monoclonal antibody drugs This kind of drug mainly plays its therapeutic effect by combining with its target molecule and changing its normal function PCSK9 inhibitors are specifically searching for PCSK9 enzyme in liver and combining with it to inhibit its normal function, so as to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol Many analysts believe that the annual sales of these two cholesterol lowering drugs will reach billions of dollars In 2013, the annual sales of each of the top 20 biological drugs exceeded US $1 billion, while the total annual sales of the top three drugs exceeded US $28 billion (Nature Biotechnology 32992 – 1000; 2014) Raymond Amato of Pfizer in Groton, Connecticut, US, who specializes in R & D hiring, believes that they have a reasonable expectation of strong growth in the biopharmaceutical industry To enter the biopharmaceutical industry, young researchers who want to enter the biopharmaceutical industry must have relevant knowledge, such as neurobiology knowledge, cardiovascular disease knowledge and Immunology knowledge At the same time, they also need the knowledge of antibody engineering Many related disciplines, such as engineering, bioinformatics, next-generation DNA sequencing or genetic engineering, have some knowledge According to mark kowala, chief scientific officer of cardiovascular metabolism and diabetes drug development department of Eli Lilly, these young people also need to have the ability to solve problems, creativity, leadership, and teamwork Lilly Pharma alone has about 100 positions in the company's new drug R & D department, including the biopharmaceutical R & D department And according to Jennifer Porath, global recruitment manager of the company's human resources department, their recruitment covers a wide range of positions, from laboratory technician, statistician, pharmacologist, toxicologist to senior scientist And it doesn't necessarily require a PhD For example, in kowala's Department, there are two laboratory directors who do not have doctorates, which accounts for about one tenth of their team According to Paul NIOI, a transformation biologist at Amgen, more than 50 resumes were received for each position in the first week According to Amato, Pfizer has also received 150 resumes for junior and 250 for intermediate R & D positions So how can these young researchers get rid of the numerous applicants? In addition to the most basic biological knowledge and laboratory skills, they also need to know a lot of very important information in the biopharmaceutical industry, such as the clinical development and large-scale preparation experience of monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, cells and other drugs Those young people who are interested in entering well-known enterprises also need to have targeted information about the target enterprises For example, Amato introduced Pfizer Pfizer is working with cellectis, a Paris based gene editing technology company, to develop cell-based immunotherapy drugs They are in great need of talents who master the technology of primary T cell culture, cell preparation, identification and quality control John beans is a protein technical chemistry expert who specializes in providing bio pharmaceutical consulting services for Lilly pharmaceutical company He recruited a group of bioengineers who can be engaged in gene cloning and expression, protein detection and molecular structure evaluation According to Joseph tarnowski, senior vice president of the Pennsylvania Office of GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical giant, they are more interested in people with expertise in analytical chemistry, cell biology and protein purification Wei Ni, a biomedical developer of Lilly pharmaceutical company, entered Lilly pharmaceutical company directly after finishing her postdoctoral research work at the University of California, San Francisco Her background is also very suitable for this job, which also proves her own value in the company According to kowala, who is looking for Ni, because her major is pharmacology and molecular biology, she can win from many applicants Ni also shows several key "soft strengths" (see background) Lilly pharmaceutical requires applicants to make an academic report during the interview Ni seizes the opportunity to show the interviewer her creativity, broad knowledge and good communication skills According to Ni, her first two slides show epidemiological information and clinical trial information related to her upcoming research work Ni hopes that these interviewers will be very surprised and satisfied when they see that she knows something about them In the face of the problem of how to quantify biological phenomena based on images, when the initial assumption of Ni was proved to be wrong, she immediately gave another set of solutions with her professional knowledge, filling the technical gap Stan Crooke, chief executive of Isis pharmaceutical company in California, thinks that the most important thing is what drug developers will do when they have enough resources and need to take full responsibility In his opinion, it's enough to identify the research areas you are interested in and then do your best Background introduction to soft power - not only laboratory skills, but also communication skills are very important when applying for a job in biopharmaceutical industry Like all other scientific disciplines, researchers engaged in biopharmaceutical development also need to write papers and make presentations But they also need to communicate with the company's management and colleagues to effectively deliver their research ideas to the audience According to Andrew Adams, a senior R & D scientist at Lilly pharmaceutical company in the United States, he is like a used car salesman many times You have to find ways to persuade your audience, and these audiences are dedicated to you Diana Ritz, chief scientist at GlaxoSmithKline, can also prove how important good communication skills are After finishing her postdoctoral research in chemical engineering, she went directly to work in pharmaceutical companies Ritz points out that her doctoral research experience taught her how to carry out research work (which is also the most attractive place for pharmaceutical companies), and also taught her how to carry out research work from the perspective of pharmaceutical companies Years of experience in PowerPoint presentations have also enabled her to express her views better and convey the message she wants to convey to her audience Ritz believes that working in pharmaceutical companies needs to focus on issues such as how to improve productivity, how to save time and cost, rather than some technical details related to academic issues, but in any case, do not break the bottom line " Adams thinks it would be better to jump out and see the problem "Can you turn a very common idea into a very good one through creative thinking?" he asked Joseph tarnowski, senior vice president of GlaxoSmithKline, suggests that candidates should add unconventional projects or strategies to their resumes to show their curiosity and creativity This kind of resume will attract our attention, he said It is also very important for pharmaceutical companies to be self-motivated, enthusiastic, responsive and friendly John Beals, team leader of Lilly pharmaceutical company, said that you will spend a lot of time with your team and you will also undertake a lot of challenging work If you can get along well with everyone and your colleagues like you very much, then everyone can create a more harmonious working atmosphere and better solve all kinds of problems encountered in the work " Original search: Jeffrey M Perkel (2015) drug hunters wanted Nature, 524:257-258 Eason / compilation