Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Entry requirements

• You should have the equivalent of a UK Bachelor's degree (2:2 minimum) in a relevant subject such as in a bioscience or science including biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, chemical engineering, chemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, medicine, physics, or veterinary science
• Alternatively, a portfolio of professional and/or academic qualifications of equivalent standing to an Honours degree
• If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent when you start the course is essential. Free English Language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it

Programme

Why this course?

• The course has a high practical content, preparing graduates to quickly enter an industrial setting. It offers a unique 'bench to bedside' approach from understanding the development of biopharmaceutical treatments to verification of non-toxicity required prior to clinical trials. This course provides a response to the rapidly expanding field of Bioinformatics and addresses the lack of this skill in the workforce by running an intensive taught programme covering the first two semesters with the option of conducting independent research in this area in the third semester
• The course has received positive feedback from international experts in Higher Education, large pharmaceutical companies, and agents involved in recruiting foreign students for the UK/US

We have received major Government and private funds for development of our laboratories and the purchase of specialist equipment that matches those in the best industrial labs.

This course delivers up-to-date subject matter on multiple protein expression systems for production of diverse biopharmaceuticals, encompassing a range of platform technologies.

It focuses on the role of proteins as therapeutic agents and as tools for the identification of such agents. It will provide insight into how a researcher may select and use appropriate protein expression systems for the large scale to mass production of a protein that would ultimately lead to its complete characterisation before it is applied to man.

You will also focus on the business and intellectual property aspects that are interwoven with biotechnological innovation and entrepreneurship to enable career progression. Here too, there is the option to conduct independent research in this area in the third semester which will culminate in a written dissertation. Modules include:

• Therapeutic Proteins/Antibodies, Molecular Toxicology and Disease
• Microbial Fermentation/Downstream Processing, Drug Development
• Gene Cloning, Expression and Analysis
• Bioinformatics I and II
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• Research Methods (with elective depending on type of research chosen for the third semester)
• Research Dissertation (a 22 week research project with elective research in topics in Business, Bioinformatics, Pharmaceutical Biotechnology or Molecular Toxicology).

Teaching/assessment

The learning environment for the first two semesters will be varied with lectures, tutorials, laboratories and computer laboratories, you can expect to spend about half of your directed study time working at the bench in our research laboratories. In the third semester the learning venue will depend on your dissertation topic (options in Business, Bioinformatics, Pharmaceutical Biotechnology or Molecular Toxicology) and will be much more aimed at guided self-study.

Further information

Alumni Scholarships
There are an unlimited number of £500 awards for DMU graduates who wish to return to study a full-time or distance learning/online Master's or PhD degree starting in 2010.

The core staff have been teaching for many years and have an impressive number of research publications in international peerreviewed journals. DMU promotes a broad range of backgrounds including many staff having cross-disciplinary interests in Pharmacy, Biology and Chemistry. Many of the staff have also spent time in industry and are aware of the demands of that environment.

Open Days

We hold regular Postgraduate/Career Development open days and recommend that you visit us to get a feel for DMU. For more information visit dmu.ac.uk/openday

Fee information

Full-time home/EU fees are £5,200 per person, per year. Part-time home/EU fees are £435 per 15 credit module and £1,740 for a 60 credit dissertation (fees shown are for the 2009/10 academic session and may change slightly for future sessions).

Contact us

Faculty Admissions Team

T: +44 (0)116 257 7700
E: hls@dmu.ac.uk
W: dmu.ac.uk/hls

How to apply

Please contact the Admissions Team for an application pack.

"This course is certainly the kind of thing we would be interested in becoming involved with - I strongly support it!"

Dr Paul Varkey - Vice President, Development and Director of Bioprocess Sciences, MedImmune - AstraZeneca