Overview of drug discovery and development

This unit introduces you to the principles of modern drug discovery and development and foundational laboratory skills required for ongoing studies in pharmaceutical science.   

You will be assigned with colleagues to a virtual pharmaceutical company, where you will undertake a semester-long project to discover and develop a new medicine. Working with the pipeline that underpins modern medicines development, you will undertake a range of individual and team-based enquiry activities, presenting your findings in a variety of written and oral modalities. In doing this, you will be able to articulate how the interplay between the pharmaceutical sciences – operating in a sustainable, socially-responsible and ethical framework – contributes to the discovery, development, formulation, manufacture and regulated clinical use of new drugs. In parallel, you will undertake a series of practical exercises to give you a solid platform to develop laboratory-based research skills.

Upon completing this unit, you will have a sound foundation of knowledge and skills on which to base further advanced studies in pharmaceutical science.