SMIMB1011U Discovery and Development of Medicines

Volume 2024/2025
Education

Master's Programme in Industrial Drug Development - compulsory

 

See course calendar for course dates on the webpage for  Master of Industrial Drug Development  

Compulsory for Master of Industrial Drug Development (MIND) students and Master of Medicines Regulatory Affairs (MRA) students.

Elective for other part-time master's students at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (subject to study board approval) and open for freelance students who meet the admission criteria.

The course is intended for drug development professionals and regulatory affairs professionals who need an overview of the entire drug discovery and development process, or professionals who need a brush-up course for continuing professional development (CPD).

Content

The topics taught are:

  • Target evaluation and biopharmaceuticals
  • Identification of lead structures
  • Medicinal chemistry: Lead optimization and synthesis
  • Non-clinical safety
  • Animal biology and pharmacology
  • Preformulation
  • Pharmaceutical formulation
  • Clinical trials
  • Quality assurance
  • Regulatory affairs
  • Production
  • Marketing
Learning Outcome

People involved in the development of medicines have diverse educational backgrounds. Often their basic academic educations have not at all touched upon discovery and development of medicines. This course aims to convey knowledge of drug discovery and development in general to the participants so they may communicate across the different fields of the process.

On completion of the course, participants will have comprehensive overview of drug discovery and development and a sound grasp of the fundamentals of the major implicated disciplines. Participants will be able to convey an understanding of the dynamics of the drug discovery and development and communicate across research fields.

Upon completion of the course, participants are expected to be able to:

Knowledge

  • give a comprehensive overview of discovery and development of medicines
  • identify correct professional terms in discovery and development of medicines
  • list major steps and elements of the drug development process
  • outline definitions of key concepts and the fundamentals of the major disciplines in drug discovery and development
  • identify the important transition points that require involvement of authorities


Skills

  • appraise the integration of the various basic disciplines into the process of discovery and development of medicines
  • analyse the sequence and flow of the various steps in the process of drug discovery and development
  • plan a development process within the regulatory framework


Competencies

  • liaise with all steps of drug discovery and development
  • identify critical factors and bottlenecks that influence the drug development process
  • promote and state milestones for the progress of the development of a medical product
  • communicate professionally with the various specialist groups within the industrial area of development of medicines

The syllabus comprises collections of review papers, textbook chapters and case stories and updated lecture slides, corresponding to approximately 500 pages. All material will be distributed electronically either placed on the course homepage or as an USB. 

Participants are expected to purchase: Drug Discovery and Development. Technology in Transition, 3rd edition Humphrey P. Rang, Churchill Livingstone, ISBN 9780702078040. Avalable also as E-Book.

The Textbook of Pharmaceutical Medicine, 7th edition, 2013. John P. Griffin (Editor), John Posner (Editor), Geoffrey R. Barker (Editor) Blackwell BMJ Books serves as “nice to know” and it is used in other MIND courses.

Applicants must meet the following criteria:
• A bachelor's degree, a professional bachelor’s degree, a diploma degree, a master’s degree or equivalent within chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacy, medicine, biomedicine, human biology, molecular biology, veterinary sciences, health sciences, nursing, engineering or equivalent.
• At least two years of relevant work experience related to development of medicines
• Proficiency in English
The course is organized as an intensive 10-day course and comprises lectures, group discussions, presentations and discussions. In order to emphasize the flow of the process, the course is to a large extent based on the use of cases in both lectures and assignments.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 40
  • Preparation
  • 78
  • Theory exercises
  • 20
  • Exam
  • 2
  • Total
  • 140
Oral
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Credit
5 ECTS
Type of assessment
On-site written exam, 2 hours under invigilation
Type of assessment details
Examination design: The test is composed of essay questions and multiple choice questions.The purpose of the examination is to test that the examinee has achieved the expected learning outcomes. The percentage of items in the test devoted to a particular topic will roughly correspond to the emphasis given the topic in teaching of the course:
• Discovery: 20 %
• Non-clinical (exploratory) development: 50 %
• Clinical development: 30 %
Aid
Written aids allowed

Find more information about written on-site exams in the exam rooms, incl. information about standard programs on the exam PCs at KUnet - Study Information - Exam types and rules - Written on-site exam (ITX). 

 

Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Exam period

To be announced at the MIND programme's webpage 

 

Re-exam

The exam form for the reexam is the same as the ordinary exam. See dates in the exam schedule at the MIND programme's webpage 

Criteria for exam assesment

The examination will monitor the knowledge and skills of the participants using the following criteria:

Knowledge

  • the ability to give a comprehensive overview of discovery and development of medicines
  • the ability to identify correct professional terms in discovery and development of medicines
  • the capability to list major steps and elements of the drug development process
  • the capability to outline definitions of key concepts and the fundamentals of the major disciplines in drug discovery and development
  • the ability to identify the important transition points that require involvement of authorities


Skills

  • the understanding of the integration of the various basic disciplines into the process of discovery and development of medicines
  • the skill to analyse the sequence and flow of the various steps in the process of drug discovery and development
  • the ability to plan a development process within the regulatory framework