Graduate shortages frustrate the pharmaceutical industry
Shortages of suitably qualified science graduates, including pharmacists, are worrying pharmaceutical companies.
Commenting on a Government
consultation on a 10-year investment framework
for science and innovation, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical
Industry’s director of science and technology, Philip Wright, said: “We
very much share the Government’s vision of a science- and innovation-led
economy, but there are several factors that give us concerns that it
may not be possible to realise its aspirations.”
What is needed, the ABPI says, is more than university funding and investment
incentives. Difficulties recruiting graduates with good science degrees
mean that Government must find ways of encouraging students to take science
courses.
A spokesman explained that the root of the problem lies in schools where
there is not enough chemistry teaching. “It’s up to the Government
to ensure that the environment is there to encourage children to see
science as something that is worthwhile,” he said. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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