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Pharmaceutical Formulation and Entrepreneurship MSc

London, Bloomsbury

Build the mix of scientific and business skills needed to create and grow high-impact pharmaceutical ventures. You’ll learn all about the latest technologies in medicines development, as well as how to assess a new business concept, raise finance for it, and market it successfully.  
 

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

An upper second-class UK Bachelor's degree or higher in pharmacy, pharmaceutical science, chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, biotechnology, pharmaceutics or a related field in the life or physical sciences, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard is required.

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

Students will learn how to develop and assess a new business concept, and how to raise finance for and market a business and its outputs. They will build their scientific skill set by exploring four scientific research areas in pharmaceutics, and will interact closely with and be mentored by those who have direct experience of initiating a start-up business.

On the science side, you’ll build your research and analytical skills working with UCL’s world-leading academics, and explore the latest technologies being used to develop new medicines today, such as gene therapies and machine learning.

From a business standpoint, you’ll then cover everything that goes into launching and growing a pharmaceutical venture – from IP routes and finance, to regulations, policies and marketing – with mentorship from academics who’ve successfully launched their own start-ups and spinouts.

The compelling mix of entrepreneurial and scientific skills the course provides will stand you in excellent stead for launching your own venture, staying in research, or going on to work on drug design or development for a healthcare, biotech or pharmaceutical company. 
 

Who this course is for

This master’s is for students who want to launch their own pharma start-up, work in the pharmaceutical or healthcare industry, or go onto a research degree in pharmaceutical sciences.  

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

What this course will give you

This one-year master’s brings together the science and commercialisation of medicines design and development into a single programme.

You’ll explore the full lifecycle of medicine design, from formulation to manufacture, while also building your business and management expertise - to give you the best possible foundation for launching and growing a successful pharmaceutical start-up.

What you can gain from this course:  
 

  • Study modules from across three UCL departments: the UCL Schools of Pharmacy and Management, and the Global Business School for Health – the world’s first business school dedicated to health. 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).
  • Work with UCL’s renowned academics from across the pharmaceutical sciences, business and management, including many who’ve set up their own successful start-ups and spinouts. You’ll receive mentorship in best practice and learn how to overcome the main challenges involved in enterprises of this kind.
  • Gain a well-rounded set of skills in medicines design and entrepreneurship, not found in many other master’s.  
  • Build essential scientific knowledge in pharmaceutical materials, formulation science, safety and quality assurance, and pharmaceutical manufacture, as well as skills in novel therapeutics development, including the use of machine learning and AI. 
  • Build key skills in entrepreneurship, in areas such as business planning, evaluation of ideas and models, raising finance, allocating resources, marketing and communication.  
  • Gain first-hand insight into globally-significant research underway in this field in areas like advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing (3D printing, nanofabrication, electrospinning), drug and biopharmaceutical delivery through biological barriers, pharmaceutical material characterisation, personalised medicine, nanomedicine and computational pharmaceutics.  
  • Spend three months working on a research project. During this time, you’ll join the research team of one of our world-leading academics, pursuing research that will advance the progress of contemporary medicine design.
  • Benefit from our close links with pharmaceutical companies, including options for some students to complete a research project in industry.  
  • Benefit from UCL’s central London location that combines state-of-the-art research with an entrepreneurial dynamic that fosters start-up creation, and provides access to venture capitalists, business angels and world-leading pharmaceutical companies.  
  • Access extensive practical support in launching a business through UCL Innovation and Enterprise, UCL’s centre for entrepreneurship and business partnerships. 
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

As well as expertise across all the relevant sciences that feed into medicines design, development and manufacture, you’ll hone essential business and entrepreneurship skills that will make you highly sought after in the global jobs market. 

Graduates of this course have gone on to work with organisations like Unilever, PwC, Deloitte, McKinsey, IQVIA, UNILAB, GSK, Pfizer and the UCL spinout Intract Pharma.*  Some graduates have successfully established their own start-up companies.

Hear how Dr Mridul Majumder used what he learnt on the MSc Pharmaceutics to launch his own successful start-up by watching this interview - How to set up your own pharma company.

*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

The unique mix of theory and practical skills in both areas of science (including computational pharmaceutics, data science, biologics and gene therapies) and entrepreneurship, will put you in a strong position for a career in medicine development, or research.  

By the end of the course, you’ll be equipped to embark on your own venture and can tap into advice and training from UCL Innovation & Enterprise to support you with this. Alternatively, you could take your expertise into a small biotech company, or a major pharmaceutical company.  

Other graduates decide to stay in academia and work on research, work in consulting or join world-leading technology companies where there’s an increasing emphasis on healthcare and the life sciences.  

You could take your expertise into product development, manufacturing, clinical trials or regulatory affairs. You could also go onto a PhD looking at the design of new drug delivery systems. 

Networking

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

  • Attend careers days and networking events where you’ll get to meet potential employers.  
  • Take part in careers events through UCL Careers during the academic year, and enhance your CV writing and interview skills.  
  • Become a full member of one of our academic research groups, and build your network with other master’s, PhD and post-doc students, and UCL’s world-leading academics.
  • Meet alumni to hear about their experiences and how the course has helped them progress in their careers.
  • Tap into free entrepreneurial support and training, and networking opportunities, through UCL Innovation & Enterprise. 

Teaching and learning

The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars and practical sessions, as well as industrial visits.

Assessment will be through a combination of written examinations, coursework assignments and project work.

Approximately 8-15 contact hours a week during term time. Typically, the hours for self-directed studies are around 10 hours a week of study time for each 15-credit module in each semester.

This time includes activities that take place in in-person-on-campus contexts such as on-campus lectures, seminars, tutorials, labs, studios and workshops, as well as tutor-mediated activities that take place in online environments.

Modules

You will study four compulsory modules in business/innovation and entrepreneurship and choose four scientific modules in the development of dosage forms from a selection of eleven optional modules. 

Compulsory modules








Optional modules






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 Pharmaceutical Formulation and Entrepreneurship.

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 Pharmaceutical Formulation and Entrepreneurship
  • why you want to study Pharmaceutical Formulation and Entrepreneurship at graduate level
  • what particularly attracts you to this programme at the UCL School of Pharmacy/UCL School of Management/UCL Global Business School for Health
  • 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.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

School of Pharmacy
School of Pharmacy

sop.pgt@ucl.ac.uk

UCL is regulated by the Office for Students.