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Drug Discovery and Pharma Management MSc

London, Bloomsbury

This is the programme information for 2025 entry

If you require details of the previous year's programme, Drug Discovery and Pharma Management MSc (2024), click here

UK students International students

Study mode

Full-time

UK tuition fees (2025/26)

£20,500

Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)

£39,800

Duration

1 calendar year

Programme starts

September 2025

Applications accepted

Applicants who require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 27 Jun 2025

Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 29 Aug 2025

Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A second-class UK Bachelor’s degree or higher in a related subject such as pharmacy, pharmaceutical science, pharmacology, physiology, physical science, biochemistry, biotechnology, chemistry, chemical engineering, genetics, material sciences, or a medical degree (MBBS), or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

As a highly skilled scientist with advanced research skills and extensive knowledge of pharmaceutical management and business, you’ll have a unique suite of skills and insights to build a career in the pharmaceutical industry, regulatory affairs or academia.

On the specially developed pharma management portion of the programme, you’ll delve into topics like strategic partnering, clinical development, global regulatory affairs, financial analysis, and sales and marketing – drawing on the experiences of experts from high-profile private and public organisations.

Learn through extensive lab-work and a mix of lectures, seminars, case studies and business development research. You’ll also develop the critical thinking, communication and collaborative skills essential to science or business focused careers in the pharmaceutical industry or academia.

Who this course is for

This master's has been specially designed for science-based graduates who want to develop expertise of all aspects of discovering, developing and commercialising new drugs.

It’s ideal preparation for a vast array of career avenues across the scientific and business sides of the pharmaceutical industry, or it could be your launching point to PhD research.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

The changing landscape of the pharma world means there’s an increasing demand for research scientists who can evaluate the business potential of their science as well as generate the science itself. This one-year Drug Discovery and Pharma Management MSc spans the entire lifecycle of bringing new drugs to market.

Working with UCL Pharmacy’s world-leading researchers, you’ll gain in-depth knowledge of the drug development process, with hands-on skills training in molecular modelling, computer-based drug design, analytical and synthetic techniques, and platforms like X-ray and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

What you can gain from this course:

Study at the UCL School of Pharmacy, working with UCL’s renowned academics across the pharmaceutical sciences. UCL is ranked 4th in the world for pharmacology and pharmacy (QS Rankings 2024) and 2nd in the world for pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences (Shanghai Rankings 2023).
Gain a sought-after mix of expertise in both the scientific processes of drug discovery and development, and the complexities and realities of pharma management and business development.
Learn from professionals working in high-profile private or public pharmaceutical institutions and organisations.
Open up a wider mix of career avenues beyond scientific drug development.
Learn about Open Science and the ways you could contribute to the development of drugs for neglected diseases.
Gain first-hand insight into globally-significant research underway in this field in the area of drug development.
Build advanced research and critical thinking skills.
Benefit from studying within UCL’s diverse postgraduate community. Students from a diverse range of countries have completed this master’s.
Leave well equipped to pursue a PhD, or to work in the research, management or business areas of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

The career options are vast. You could go into research and development, quality assurance, clinical services, regulatory affairs, management consultancy, business analysis, financial and data management or marketing. Many graduates use it as a stepping stone to PhD research.

Graduates of this course have gone on to work with Roche Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Novartis, Life Science Dynamics, GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Cambridge Healthcare research.*

*Graduate Outcomes survey carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), looking at the destinations of UK and EU graduates in the 2019-20, 2020-21 cohorts

Employability

Your highly-valued scientific skillset coupled with extensive knowledge of the business and management aspects of drug development, will stand you in excellent stead to build a career in the area of drug discovery and manufacture that interests you most.

Networking

You’ll have regular opportunities to connect, collaborate and build professional contacts as part of your master’s.

Attend events, lectures, and symposia throughout the year.
Meet students and active researchers from across the School of Pharmacy and the wider UCL community.
Hear from and interact with visiting experts from industry.
Take part in careers events through UCL Careers during the academic year, and enhance your CV writing and interview skills.
Meet alumni to hear about their experiences and how the course has helped them progress in their careers.

Teaching and learning

The programme will be delivered principally by lectures given by both internal academic staff and a number of external experts in the drug discovery field. The latter will be active researchers or professionals working in high-profile private or public institutions/industries or organisations.

Students will be required to analyse data for their written coursework, and oral and poster presentations as part of the assignments for the different modules of the programme. This will include data generation through conducting hands-on exercises during laboratory and computational practicals and reviewing the current literature, while developing critical thinking and soft skills essential for a career in the pharmaceutical industry and academic environment.

The coursework assignments will be done individually and/or in groups. Students will be required to instigate or contribute to original research studies, generate new data and report their work in a written dissertation and oral presentation.

Students will also have the opportunity to explore conducting their final research project with relevant industrial partners where they can apply their skills and gain valuable experience.

The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, tutorials and seminars. Assessment is through a combination of written examinations and coursework, including the dissertation

In term one, students need to complete all the mandatory teaching linked to two mandatory 30-credit modules. There are typically around 15 hours per week of taught classes between both modules.

During a three week period, the students will need to attend three workshop sessions (one session per week) lasting 7 hours. There are also two laboratory sessions that will last from 9am to 4pm approximately.

In term two, students will take one mandatory 30-credit module, one mandatory 15-credit module plus one optional 15-credit module, making a total of approximately 20 hours per week of taught classes.

In term three, students will be working on the completion of their 60-credit Dissertation module. Typically, students work on their project around 25-30 hours per week. This is a research project that will be conducted either in the UCL School of Pharmacy or with industrial partners.

Modules

You will take compulsory modules in the Process of Drug Discovery, the Process of Drug Development and Modern Aspects of Drug Discovery and you will have the opportunity to choose specialised modules in the second part of the programme such as Anticancer Personalised Medicines; New Drug Targets in the Central Nervous System; Pharmacometrics, Immunology; Advanced Structure-Based Drug Design.

You will follow a specialist module in Pharma Management that gives a deeper insight into the regulatory and commercial aspects of management in the pharmaceutical industry. The specialist module covers topics such as Research and Clinical Development, Intellectual property, Commercial Teams, Global Regulatory Affairs, Agencies, Hearings and Approvals, Risk Management, Post Approval Obligations, Commercialisation, Product Design and Launch for Market, Pharma Company Structure, Industrial Relations, Investor Relations, Strategic Partnering and Business Development, Due Diligence, Financial Analysis, Business Case, Communication Skills and Sales and Marketing.

The programme covers marketing, licensing and regulatory affairs but specialises in management training and awareness and Strategic Partnering and Business Development skills.

You will complete your studies with a research or business development project in one of these areas. MSc graduates from these UCL programmes are thus highly skilled scientists capable of taking important roles in the pharma industry.

Compulsory modules

The Process of Drug Discovery

The Process of Drug Development

Pharma Management

Modern Aspect of Drug Discovery

Dissertation - MSc Drug Discovery

Optional modules

Targeting CNS Disorders: Translational Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine

Anticancer Personalised Medicines

Advanced Structure-Based Drug Design

Applications of Immunology: Immunotherapy, Vaccinology and Diagnostic Techniques

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Drug Discovery and Pharma Management.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students

Fee description	Full-time
Tuition fees (2025/26)	£20,500
Tuition fees (2025/26)	£39,800

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

There are no programme-specific additional costs.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

How your academic and professional background meets the demands of Drug Discovery and Pharma Management
Why you want to study Drug Discovery and Pharma Management at graduate level
What particularly attracts you to this programme at the UCL School of Pharmacy
Where you would like to go professionally with your degree and how this programme meets these needs

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

This programme requires two references. Further information regarding references can be found on this Selecting your references page.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.