Top MBA in Pharmaceutical Management: Industry Trends, Europe Rising & Highest Post-MBA Salary

Despite losing out on several patents, Pharmaceutical companies are upbeat about hiring projections for 2014. 2013 saw a 5% growth for the Pharma industry with the Global Pharmaceuticals market at USD $300 billion. The market size is projected to reach USD $400 billion by 2016. 10 leading  Pharma companies control over 1/3rd of the market, with US based companies slightly dominating European ones ( 6 against 4). Emerging economies are behind in this sector with 85% of Global pharma market dominated by companies from the US, Europe and Japan.

Why MBAs are in high demand?

An interesting statistics not perceived to be associated with this industry is the revenue spent on marketing. Over 1/3rd of the annual revenue is spent on marketing against 1/6th that is spent on Research & Development. This is one reason why Pharma companies are interested in MBAs with specific interest in the industry. With the majority of MBAs preferring Consulting, Finance, and Technology, Pharma sector attracts professionals who have a background in Healthcare & Pharmaceutical, or understands the growth potential of this sector. To attract the best in the market, pharmaceutical companies offer the highest salary across all sectors - US$110,000, on an average, excluding bonuses.

Why MBA is essential for Pharmaceutical Management?

Pharmaceutical Industry is one of those rare industries that require specialist skills in each function – technical expertise for Research & Development, Legal expertise for Managing Patents and Marketing skills for marketing the drugs to a wider market.

Rising Demand in Europe

In 2013-14, demand growth in Eastern Europe has been 33%, followed by Western Europe at 10% and Asia-Pacific at 9%. Pharma Industry needs MBAs from diverse background for each market. With a specialist MBA in Pharmaceutical program, candidates are differentiating themselves from hundreds of General Management candidates.

Faster Drug Approval

Traditionally Drug approval was a big red herring, and often the investment on marketing, and future drug discovery dependent on it. The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval rate of 39 new drugs in 2012, the highest in over 10 years, is promising. An important factor that increased the high approval rate is the streamlining of processes in FDA, and aggressive pursuit of innovative new drugs. The focus on high return drugs, disbanding  low ROI drug research, and outsourcing routine tasks to low-cost countries have been some of the reasons for this reversal in trends.

With more drugs in the market, the demand for professionals who can market them strategically and effectively have increased in the past two years. Premier Business School students still prefer consulting, Finance and Industry sectors to Pharmaceutical. Professionals, who are exclusively focused on this sector, will meet this gap in the future. To help you shortlist MBA programs relevant for Pharmaceutical industry, here are our top picks:

1) Rutgers MBA in Pharmaceutical Management

Rutgers MBA is offered in New Jersey, the heart of bio-pharma companies. By forming partnerships with some of the leading pharmaceutical companies  -  Johnson & Johnson, Novartis , Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb &  Eisai, Rutgers offers the right connection to forge relationships with future Employers. In 2011, 971 companies in New Jersey were directly involved in Pharma employing over 52,125 in this sector. Of these professionals, 22.1% had Master’s degree while 9.6% had PHD.

Rutgers MBA in Pharmaceutical Management covers the industry structure & issues: legal, regulatory & ethical. The course also covers the US Healthcare system, Pharmaceutical Marketing, & product management.

For select few, Rutgers Industry scholarships offer the opportunity to fund their MBA program. The Industry Scholar profile includes average GMAT Score (707), Average GPA (3.6), and Work Experience of 5.6 years. Candidates with similar profile can competitively apply for the scholarship program.

Blanche and Irwin Lerner Center lead the specialization in Pharmaceutical Management for Rutgers. The center facilitates the exchange of ideas, both research and management, among professionals through workshops, research projects, seminars, and hosting leading pharmaceutical companies for talks on the latest innovation in the industry.

2) ESCP Master in Biopharmaceutical Management

ESCP Master’s program is designed for managers, scientists’, doctors, pharmacists, chemists, and biotech engineers. The courses are designed to focus on international pharmaceutical marketing and biotechnology management, banking and consulting. The 1-Year program is divided into three terms: First Two Terms (Sept to December & January to March: Includes International Seminar), and Third Term (April to December: Thesis & Internship).

The participants must be proficient in English and French. The course starts with the fundamentals of marketing, followed by pharmaceutical marketing, competitive analysis, international marketing, communication strategy & biotechnology management.

International Seminar during the second term offers participants with a practical understanding on how the industry works with funding, research, commercial structures, and influencing the decision makers with lobbying. The 2014 international seminar will take place in Shanghai.

Found reputed International MBA in Pharmaceutical Management worth mentioning?

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Reference

Rutgers MBA in Pharmaceutical Management
ESCP Master in Biopharmaceutical Management
McKinsey & Company New-drug approvals Insight
WHO Trends
EFPIA Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures