Process Development

In process development, you produce chemical or biological drug candidates at small scale for clinical trials, and develop synthesis and bioprocessing methods for scale-up into commercial manufacturing. It is a growing area that attracts chemists, microbiologists, biochemists, and molecular biologists.

| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

Personality test
• Do you enjoy the art of mass production? You will develop synthetic routes or bioprocessing steps for drug production.
• Can you do high-quality science, reproducibly, and under a deadline? Timelines are often tight.
• How well can you prioritize? In this job, the goal is to design a safe, quick and efficient manufacturing process.

Pros
• Tangible results.
Process scientists find satisfaction in seeing their work directly translated into high-quality drugs.
• Creative work.
You invent methods that may lead to patents, journal articles, or trade secrets.
• Focused, friendly science.
Here, science is like a craft, with a tangible goal, and an atmosphere that is collaborative.

Cons • Occasional long nights. Due to the processes inherent in the manufacture of drugs, you can spend nights and weekends getting the work done during deadlines. • Under the radar. Most of the glory (and also the failure) ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Toby Freedman

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide