The Life and History of the Pharmaceutical Industry

Katelyn Shue

English III Honors Pd. 6

Mr. Alburger

February 23, 2017

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Pharmacology stands as a branch of medicine that deals with uses and effects of

substances and drugs. Determining the toxicity of a chemical substance and the effects a

chemical substance can have on the human body requires specific knowledge and training due to

the seriousness of major side effects of certain drugs and the need to benefit human health.

Pharmacology persist as a fascinating field to get involved in for the reasons that the field has

evolved and progressed over time with all the new technological advancements, it has become an

interesting way to pursue medicine and human health, and requires extensive training and

specific skills and knowledge.

Pharmacology has evolved and progressed over time with all the new technological

advancements. The earliest documentations of pharmacology date back to around 3000 B.C.

(Strojil) Simple prescriptions for relief of various ailments persisted written on papyrus, a form

of paper that the Egyptians had used. The field of pharmacy transpired through Greece, Rome,

the Arab world, medieval Europe, and America. (Strojil) The drug store in the early 1800s

carries little resemblance to a modern drug store that many people remain familiar with today. In

the past, the pharmacist had to measure and mix each prescription by hand. The accuracy of the

measurements of each of the substances in the drugs remained dependent upon the skills of the

pharmacist.

Professor Dr Emil Starkenstein existed originally thought to stand as the first person to

practice pharmacology. He began his practice as a young professor docent in Germany at Charles

University in Prague. He remained a part of the medical faculty at the university. During World

War two, Starkenstein served as a commander of the Army infectious disease hospital in Radom,

Poland. There he applied his past knowledge of his past experimental work to help cure and
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prevent diseases and illnesses such as typhus and cholera during the war.

Documents dating back to 1911 have recently come about proving that Hans Januschke

existed as the true founder of the field of pharmacology. These documents also show that the

first pharmaceutical unit most likely inhabited Vienna. (Strojil) Much stands unknown about the

details of Hans Januschke and the true origin of pharmacology, but the proof does state that

Starkenstein, who remained the long believed founder of pharmacology, definitely did not

practice pharmaceuticals first. (Pastore)

Pharmaceuticals has evolved and advanced in many different ways. The term

"pharmacist" used to refer to the owner of an apothecary shop. A drug salesman in the past

would have obtained the name "druggist" rather than pharmacist. (Dickson) In 1820, the first

official listing of drugs came out. It remained referred to as the United States Pharmacopeia. The

American Pharmaceutical Association released a book of unofficial substances called the

National Formulary in 1888 and it soon became equivalent to the United States Pharmacopeia.

The two publications became used side by side for over a century. In recent years the two

publications have merged into one publication full of all the material of both publications along

with all the recent findings in pharmacology. Old United States Pharmacopoeias and National

Formularies remain difficult to find, but continue to stay around in some old bookstores.

J.J. Abel remained responsible for introducing the German ways of pharmacology to the

United States. Abel spent seven years in Europe researching medical science. He had also spent a

period of time with Schmiedeberg in Strasbourg, and it stood recommended that Abel took up

the position of the director of Materia Medica and Therapeutics at the University of Michigan in

1891, then he moved on to Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1893 and became the first
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Professor of Pharmacology. J.J. Abel retired in 1932. Todays pharmacologists may remain

unfamiliar with Abel, but remain aware that he had a great impact on the field of pharmacology.

He became the only founder and first Chief Editor of the Journal of Pharmacology and

Experimental Therapeutics, commonly referred to as the JPET in the pharmaceutical world, right

after the creation of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics in

1908. (Rocci)

Pharmacist remain in high demand, but low supply due to all of the requirements needed

to become a pharmacist. It takes a large amount of dedication, time, and effort in order to

become a certified pharmacist. Technology also plays a role in the future of pharmaceuticals.

(Malviya) Technology has advanced society in many ways already and will most likely advance

even more in the future. It stands unknown how, but new technological advancements become

available all the time now, causing the predictions of an advanced future in medicine to increase

tremendously. (Gmez-Outes)

Pharmacology has become an interesting way to pursue medicine and human health. In

pharmacology, clinical trials persist as research studies that examine if a medical approach,

treatment, or appliance remains dependable, harmless, and effective for humans. These studies

may display how different procedures work better for particular ailment or specific group of

individuals. There persist three phases to conducting a pharmaceutical clinical trial.

Phase one studies target assessing a medicine or drugs safety and commonly include a

small number of volunteers who must remain healthy and get paid for their participation in the

study. Clinical trials typically take several months to several years. Phase one studies concentrate

on the effects a drug has on the human body. (Career) For example, how a drug affects ones
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metabolism, thought process, perception, and wellbeing. A drug's side effects persist as a huge

concern to pharmacist.

Phase two studies observes how effective a drug stands and its influence. (Career)

Patients get randomized into clinical trials that include a group of individuals receiving the drug

and a control group that does not receive the drug. The control group will receive a placebo. The

placebo effect occurs when patients truly believe they go on improving since they take

medication for their problems, but it acts not necessarily because the compound prevails

effective, but because of either natural causes or the power of the mind to tell your body that

healing will occur due to the medication, therefore it does. (Brissonnet) Clinical trials often use

the double-blind approach, which means neither the participants or the experimenter remain

aware of who gets the real drug and who gets the placebo. This helps assure that neither the

participants nor the researcher remain able to affect the outcome of the trial.

Phase three studies remain extensive clinical trials that implement a more accurate

understanding of the medication. (Career) These studies also search for potential issues that

may arise in a relatively few number of patients. Phase three studies remain extensive and can

take several years to complete.

Aspirin stands as one of the most commonly used medications used for pain and

discomfort. In the pharmaceutical world, Aspirin has repeatedly come about as the drug for all

ailments due to its effectiveness and popularity. Aspirins wide spread popularity contributes to

the drugs capabilities of relieving pain and helping reduce fevers. The history of Aspirin dates

back to about 400 B.C. to Hippocrates recommending that people chew on willow tree bark to

relieve pain from childbirth. (Hademenos) Later it became discovered that salicin, the active
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ingredient in Aspirin, persisted within the bark of willow trees. Johann Buchner stood as the first

scientist to successfully remove salicin from the willow tree bark in a crystalline form.

Placebos stand as a harmless substance that brings forth no therapeutic effect. Placebos

remain commonly used in clinical trials to act as a neutral drug to compare to the effects of the

real drug. When given a placebo, people remain typically unaware that they have received it.

This leads to the placebo effect. The placebo effect occurs when patients truly believe they go on

improving since they take medication, but it may not persist necessarily because the compound

stands as effective, but because of either natural causes or the power of the mind to tell your

body that healing will occur, therefore it does. Pharmacologist often use placebos when patients

either do not require medication to get better, but believe that they do or in clinical trials.

Pharmacology requires extensive training and specific skills and knowledge. Pharmacist

need to have a sufficient amount of knowledge about the toxic and therapeutic aspects of drugs.

Toxicology exist as the branch of science that deals with the nature, effects, and detection of

poisons or toxic substances. This stands as an important aspect of pharmaceuticals in how

pharmacist must know what substances and how much of a substance remains safe for human

consumption and will cause no harm to the patient. Therapeutics stands as the branch that deals

with the treatment of disease and the science of healing. (King) In pharmacology, therapeutics

refers to the use of drugs and their administration in the treatment and prevention of disease.

Pharmacist also need specific courses that hold as required to become pharmacist.

Obviously chemistry courses stand as important courses to the pharmaceutical field considering

all pharmacist deal with drugs and substances.

Current pharmacologist, when asked about the requirements needed to remain in the field
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will recommend that students in high school wanting to get in to pharmacology take some

difficult classes in high school such as AP biology, anatomy, chemistry, physics etc. to get the

individual used to the material before college when the student really needs to know it well. The

courses that stand as needed as prerequisites to get into pharmacy vary from school to school but

the prerequisites needed for the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy, one of the

top pharmaceutical colleges in the nation, requires biology 101 and biology 102, which stand as

basic biology courses for science based majors, the labs for both of those classes, biology 243

and biology 244, anatomy I and anatomy II, biology 250, also known as microbiology, chemistry

111 and chemistry 112, the basic first two chemistry courses for science based majors, and the

labs for both of those, chemistry 333 and chemistry 334, which persist basically as organic

chemistry, and the labs for those. These stand as all of the main science related prerequisites for

pharmacy school at the University of South Carolina School of Pharmacy. Other courses that

stand as more of common core type classes that most people have to take such as english 101 and

english 102, speech, economy, psychology, physics, calculus, and statistics remain necessary for

this field as well. All of the prerequisites total up to last approximately 66 total credit hours.

(Shue) If a student remains dedicated he or she could probably complete these in 2-3 years of

undergrad before applying to pharmacy school. Students will also need to take the Pharmacy

College Admissions Test before applying to pharmacy school and different schools have

different score requirements. The courses for pharmacy school remain completely different and

much more difficult, but these stand as the basic requirements for applying to the program. Once

the student gets in, they have to know all of the information that they have learned from these

classes extremely well because there remain no review sessions once the student gets there.
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The educational requirements for a job in pharmaceuticals persist as the completion of all

of the classes listed previously. After completing all of these requirements, the student gets

accepted into pharmacy school they will have a minimum of four more years until they receive

their Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Also in pharmacy school there persist a multitude of dual

degree programs offered. Some of the dual degree programs offered at the University of South

Carolina specifically stand as Doctor of Pharmacy/ PhD, Doctor of Pharmacy/ MBA, and Doctor

of pharmacy/ MPH. These stand as some of the most popular, but many more remain available.

At this point the student will have obtained a bachelor's degree as well as a doctor of pharmacy

degree in around 6-8 years total. After an individual walks across the stage at graduation though,

even though they stand now technically a doctor of pharmacy, they cannot simply go out and

start practicing. First they have to pass their licensure requirements. The first of the two major

licensing requirements that one will need in order to become a practicing pharmacist, called the

NAPLEX, an extremely difficult exam that individuals only want to take once, not only because

of its difficulty level, but also because it costs a minimum of $500. If the individual fails, their

payment stands as nonrefundable so it remains important to study for this one. After the

NAPLEX, they move on to taking the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam that basically

covers every single state and federal law and remains extremely difficult. The difference between

the two stands that with the NAPLEX, individuals end up covered to work in any state in the

U.S. (theoretically) but only in states that they have passed each state specific multistate

pharmacy jurisprudence exam. The state law exam varies based on which state an individual

practices in because the laws of each state vary tremendously. Once the student has finally

completed these two examinations, they will now persist as a licensed pharmacist that can
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practice legally. (Krueger)

After becoming a certified pharmacist, the individual can actually go to work now, most

pharmacists go on to complete postdoctoral trainings which typically begin with residencies in

his or her desired field or a fellowship. Some pharmacists complete 1-2 years of postdoctoral

training and then an additional year of specialized training to really zone in on what they want to

specialize in whether it stands as cardiology, critical care, emergency medicine, research, the

pharmaceutical industry, oncology, geriatrics, etc. Many different areas of specialty exist so that

makes the first 1-2 years of general residencies/fellowships important since this stands as the

time frame when individuals really decide what they remain passionate about and want to

become a specialist in.

There stands a ton of different careers and jobs in the field of pharmacology. These

different careers or jobs include community pharmacology, hospital pharmacology, educational

pharmacology, consultant pharmacology, governmental pharmacology, mail service

pharmacology, and pharmaceutical industry. Community pharmacology stands as a branch of

pharmacology that deals with face to face contact between the patient and pharmacist to help the

patient fill prescriptions and help inform the patient about the prescription such as how and when

to take it as well as the side effects. People that work in community pharmacology can work at

community pharmacy places such as Rite Aid or CVS, or they have the option to work for a

community health center pharmacy and help patients with low income get the care and

medications they need. Compounding pharmacology stands as a specific job within the

community pharmacology field. Compounding pharmacology deals with preparing the

customized dosage of medication for each individual patient. Since all patients needs remain
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different, dosage persist as a very important aspect of pharmacology and without proper dosage,

the drug may remain ineffective or cause negative or undesired effects on the patient. Another

branch of pharmacology exist as hospital pharmacology. Hospital pharmacology consist of the

pharmacist that work in hospitals that make sure each patient receives the right medication that

their doctor prescribes them. These pharmacist work directly with the patients doctors and

nurses which helps with making the prescriptions more accurate and helps patients receive them

sooner. Hospital pharmacist also keep patients up to date personal records with helps the

pharmacist know what medications they use or have used in the past to make sure the

prescriptions all work the way they need to and persist as not voided or harmful because of other

substances an individual may take. A job within the field of hospital pharmacology stands as

nuclear pharmacology. Nuclear pharmacology helps improve health using safe and adequate uses

of radioactive substances to treat diseases. This exist as the field that works to cure severe

diseases such as cancer or alzheimer's disease. They seem a lot like clinical pharmacist in how

they fill prescriptions and everything except they deal with radioactive drugs. (Richards) Nuclear

pharmacist can work in hospitals or commercial nuclear pharmacies. Another career in

pharmacology stands as educational pharmacology. Educational pharmacology remains

extremely important to the field in how the field could not progress or last. Educational

pharmacist teach pharmacy to students interested in the field. Without teachers to help the future

pharmacist learn pharmacology, the field of pharmaceuticals would not exist. Educational

pharmacist work at colleges and universities all over the world. Consultant pharmacology stands

as a career choice where the pharmacist support long term care patients in facilities such as

nursing homes or rehabilitation centers. These pharmacist also help educate the patients families
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about their wellbeing. Another interesting career in pharmacology exist as governmental or

federal pharmacology. These types of pharmacist remain employed by either local, state, or

federal governments. Government pharmacist typically work in municipal health clinics such as

Medicaid agencies, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the United States Public Health

Service. Governmental pharmacist persist responsible for managing pharmacy departments

within a government branch, distributing drugs, and evaluating new drug applications. A job

within the governmental pharmacology branch persist as managed care and pharmacy benefit

management. This job deals with health care plans such as Obama Care. An Additional career

choice in pharmacology stands as a job in the pharmaceutical industry. The majority of

pharmacist involved with industry pharmacology remain involved mostly with research and

development, sales, administration, drug information, drug manufacturing, and quality control.

Another career in the pharmaceutical field stands as mail service pharmacology. Mail service

pharmacology remains a growing occupation since it supplies people with cheaper and easier

access to prescription medication. Patients have direct access to mail service pharmacist in how

they remain only a call away and continue to always stay available when patients have questions

about the use of their prescriptions.

Pharmacology persist as a fascinating field to get involved in for the reasons that the field

has evolved and progressed over time with all the new technological advancements, it has

become an interesting way to pursue medicine and human health, and requires extensive training

and specific skills and knowledge. Pharmacology exist as an intriguing field of study. It can

stand as a difficult field of interest and requires a large amount of determination, hard work, and

time to act as a successful pharmacologist.

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