Pharmaceutical companies manufacture medicines using plant- and chemical-based compounds. The products they create and market can prevent the spread of disease, alleviate pain, cure illnesses, and slow the effects of aging.

There is a variety of pharmaceutical jobs, including pharmacists, pharmaceutical sales representatives, chemical engineers, biological scientists, general and operational managers, and various other positions in pharmaceutical manufacturing. These workers develop and operate pharmaceutical equipment, research new drugs, market medical products and dispense drugs.

Pharmaceutical Salaries

Pharmaceutical salary varies between different job titles within the pharmaceutical industry, with positions requiring advanced education returning the highest pay.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports median annual pay for pharmaceutical jobs:

• Pharmacist: $116,670 (2012)
• Pharmaceutical sales representative: $78,070 (2014)
• Chemical engineers: $98,500 (2014)
• Biological scientist: $84,320 (2014)
• General and operational management: $150,190 

Top Pharmaceutical Companies

The largest pharmaceutical companies in the United States include:

• Johnson & Johnson
• Pfizer
• Abbott Laboratories
• Bristol Myers Squibb
• Amgen
• Biogen Idec
• Celgine Corporation
• Merck & Co.
• Gilead Sciences
• Ely Lilly

Job Market

There are more than 810,000 jobs in the biopharmaceutical industry in the United States as of 2012 but the industry supports a total of nearly 3.4 million jobs directly in pharmaceutical companies, jobs with vendor companies, and jobs created by the biopharmaceutical industry workforce.  Companies invest more than ten times the amount of research and development per employee than all other manufacturing industries, creating a large number of R&D jobs within the pharmaceutical sector.

Biologics, over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, and generics markets have become increasingly competitive and now offer the greatest potential for growth. Biologics, including vaccines, blood and blood components, allergy detection and treatment, and gene therapy, account for a quarter of all new drugs in clinical trials or awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The growing aging population and consumer trends towards self-medication, combined with conversion of drugs from prescription status to non-prescription status.

The U.S. market has a favorable regulatory and patent market, which helped it become the largest free-pricing pharmaceutical market in the world. Future growth of the industry in the nation is fueled by U.S. government support of biomedical research, the market’s unparalleled research and scientific base, and an innovative biotechnology sector.